4 deserving Cardinals players who'll be squeezed off the Opening Day roster

I don't put a lot of stock into Spring Training numbers, but each year, there tend to be a few players who do everything they can on the field to earn an Opening Day roster spot, but due to other circumstances, are "squeezed" off the roster. The St. Louis Cardinals have a number of those cases this year.

Most of the time, it's pretty easy to explain why that player will not be starting the year in St. Louis, even if their performance seems to say they should have that opportunity. Often times it has to do with other depth at the position and no clear role being available to them, and other times it can be as simple as the the club believes they need more time to develop in the minor leagues.

This is also the time of year when contracts and player options can play a role as well, as the Cardinals may decide to go with a player who has not performed as well due to some of those limiting factors.

These four players will be squeezed off the Cardinals' Opening Day roster

Pedro Pages

Obviously, the Cardinals are going to go with Willson Contreras and Ivan Herrera as their catchers this year, and rightfully so. Still, Pedro Pages has really impressed in camp so far and should give fans confidence in him as the "next man up" should an injury occur.

Pages is well-regarded for his defensive ability behind the plate and has followed up a strong campaign in Double-A last year with an equally strong performance this spring. Pages slashed .267/.362/.443 with 16 HR and 72 RBI in 117 games for Springfield in 2023 and now has an .825 OPS in his 20 spring at-bats as well.

Again, I don't take much stock in spring stats, but it's been encouraging to see Pages handle his business as the plate thus far in camp, and given that his real strengths are behind the dish, that makes for an encouraging future if he's able to continue to develop in Memphis this year.

The Cardinals are now without Andrew Knizner, so that third catcher role is something they'll really lean on Pages for this year, should they need him. While he never really had a shot of making the Opening Day roster without an injury occurring, the Cardinals should feel pretty good about what they have in him right now.

Victor Scott II

The Victor Scott II hype train is alive and well, and it's definitely not a done deal that he will begin the year in Memphis. But given the Cardinals' patience with prospects and how they viewed him coming into camp, it's much more likely he has a Masyn Winn-like trajectory this year, rather than a Jordan Walker-esc story.

What do I mean by that? Well, coming into camp last year, Walker and Winn were both expected to begin the season in Triple-A. But after a really strong camp from both youngsters, it became clear at the end of camp that Walker would be a part of the Opening Day roster, while it never quite felt like that would happen for Winn.

Now, I do believe Scott is a lot closer to getting the nod than Winn was, but with how Dylan Carlson has looked in recent weeks, I do believe they'll roll with him in center field, one of Brendan Donovan or Alec Burleson in left field, and have Michael Siani be their backup center fielder until Lars Nootbaar and Tommy Edman return.

Scott has looked really impressive on the field thus far, posting a .777 OPS, wrecking havoc on the basepaths, and playing excellent defense in center field. Even so, he still has less than 900 plate appearances in the minor leagues and has yet to spend any time in Triple-A, which I think will ultimately cause the Cardinals to be patient with Scott to begin the year.

With less than a week until Opening Day, we should have our answer on the status of Scott sooner rather than later. The Cardinals have a two-game series in Arizona against the Chicago Cubs to finish off their Spring Training schedule, so I imagine they'll make a decision before they travel to the West Coast for that trip and the opening series in Los Angeles.

Jose Fermin

The Cardinals went out and signed former San Francisco Giant Brandon Crawford to be their backup shortstop a few weeks ago, but with how Jose Fermin is playing this camp, I wonder if they would go back and undo that decision.

Crawford won't get much playing time for the Cardinals, but they did want to bring someone in to back up Winn with Edman still being on the mend and their desire to have him focus on center field this year. Had the Cardinals waited to sign a shortstop, Crawford would've been picked up by another club, so they didn't really have time to "wait and see".

Still, Fermin has been really impressive so far, slashing .310/.408/.524 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in his 42 at-bats. Again, I don't really care about the camp stats, but when it comes to a backup shortstop role, Fermin has done a lot to prove he should get a shot in that role, but I doubt he will do so anytime soon.

Should Crawford really struggle during the year, the Cardinals could decide to cut bait and look to Fermin instead, but for now, he's likely going to remain in Memphis for most of the year. Fermin did get a small sample size in St. Louis in 2023 to grab their attention but only mustered a .594 OPS in those 51 at-bats.

Fermin is just 24 years old, so perhaps he's taking the necessary steps forward to earn a backup role in the future. For now, even with his impressive camp, he'll be left off that Opening Day roster.