4 former Cardinals who are putting on a show in Spring Training

As Spring Training enters its final stretch, players on the fringes of a roster are giving it all they've got to attempt to persuade their managers that they belong on the roster. Many former St. Louis Cardinals who dot the landscape of Florida and Arizona during Spring Training are hoping to prove their previous employer to be fools for letting them leave, and several of those who have left the redbird nest have performed beyond expectations to this point.

These four players who were Cardinals in 2023 are providing strong numbers in Spring Training.

Juan Yepez

When Albert Pujols sees something in a player, it might be best to keep that guy around. The Cardinals didn't do that with Juan Yepez, who was squeezed off of the roster in 2023 because of his defensive limitations. The Washington Nationals scooped him up in the offseason, and he has torn the cover off the ball in spring, with 11 hits in 29 at-bats. Amazingly, he has only struck out once.

Yepez wasn't projected to begin the year in the major leagues, but he might force the Nationals to think twice. Complicating matters are Yepez's fielding concerns, and with the presence of Joey Meneses as the Nationals' primary designated hitter, Yepez might be on the outside looking in yet again.

Yepez appeared to be Pujols' most enthusiastic pupil in 2022, and Pujols praised Yepez, expecting him to do big things in the future. That future might be imminent given his spring performance; unfortunately, it won't be while Yepez wears the birds on the bat.