5 bold predictions for the St. Louis Cardinals this Spring Training

With Spring Training starting later this week and the St. Louis weather getting warmer, baseball is right around the corner and my enthusiasm and optimism for the 2024 Cardinals season has increased significantly. After an abysmal 2023 season, nothing will get me more excited than a strong start for 2024. I missed terribly on all five of my bold predictions for the Noot News Podcast last season, but my first bold prediction is that I will get at least one of these right for 2024.

Site expert Josh Jacobs and site contributor Sandy McMillan all made their picks as well, which we broke down on the podcast (embedded video below), but here are my five bold predictions for 2024 and explanations for all of them.

Jordan Walker will receive MVP votes

One name I was particularly impressed with at Cardinals' Winter Warm-Up was Jordan Walker. Walker's offensive rise in 2023 was significantly overshadowed by the Cardinals' horrid season and Walker's not-so-good defense. However, his .276/.342/.445 slash line at just 21 years old was more than satisfactory. He's been working on his defense this offseason with Jose Oquendo, hoping to become a league-average glove in right field, while also building muscle to increase his already elite exit velocity and elevate his low launch angle.

If he starts to elevate the ball more, his power numbers should increase dramatically and he'll instantly become one of the top hitters in all of baseball. Moreover, his athleticism and work ethic combined should make him a serviceable outfielder next year. After all, we saw Nolan Gorman transform himself from a poor defender at second base in 2021 into a competent one in 2022. Expect Walker to make similar strides.

Many projection systems already rank Walker as amongst the best hitters on the Cardinals for 2024, even above Goldschmidt and Arenado. Rightfully so, as Walker is the Cardinals' best prospect since the late Oscar Taveras and future first-ballot Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. Once Walker breaks out, he won't look back. If that's the case in 2024, receiving a few MVP votes might not be too bold a take.

Lars Nootbaar will be selected as an All-Star

Despite an injury-riddled 2023 campaign, there's an argument to be made that Lars Nootbaar was the Cardinals' best player last year. He ranked third on the team in bWAR, but just 0.1 point behind Willson Contreras and Paul Goldschmidt despite only playing 117 games. Of course, with as bad a season as the Cardinals had, nobody was truly an All-Star caliber player throughout the full season, but if the All-Star Game was held at the end of the season instead of the middle, there was an extremely solid case for him to be the lone St. Louis All-Star.

He slashed .261/.367/.418 for a 115 OPS+ which he combined with solid defense throughout the Cardinals' outfield. However, after hurting his thumb on Opening Day, a midseason back injury, and a late-season groin contusion, he never got consistent enough playing time to get fully ramped up. During his longest stretch of uninterrupted baseball, however, he played much better.

For this prediction to come true, Nootbaar simply needs to play a full first half of the season and maintain his performance from last year. With left field depth in the National League extremely thin, Nootbaar should easily be able to outperform the rest of the competition aside from Diamondbacks rising star Corbin Carroll.

Nootbaar's International stardom should also boost his chances of being voted into the All-Star Game. After gaining 1 million followers on Instagram following Japan's World Baseball Classic run, Nootbaar could easily be voted in by his immense Japanese following. However, I don't think he'll need to rely on his popularity to get in. If he keeps up his performance, he'll make it in on merit.

Brendan Donovan contends for the batting title

Here's one that's just for fun, as the batting title means a lot less than it used to. However, I believe Brendan Donovan has the tools required to post a batting average over .300 and contend with the top averages in the National League. He struggled quite a bit at the start of the 2023 season as pitchers realized his "get on base" approach made him less aggressive at the plate.

However, after Donovan started swinging at more first-pitch strikes, his offensive numbers greatly improved, and he looked like his old self before being shut down due to his elbow injury. In June he hit .307 and in July he hit .325 following his adjustments. Of course, I don't expect him to stay hot for the entire season, but his elite bat-to-ball skills and extremely low strikeout rate give him the tools to hit for an elite average.

I don't expect Donovan to turn into a "slap hitter" like Luis Arraez or even win the batting title, but power-oriented hitters have hit for high averages recently too. Freddie Freeman made it a race at the end of last season batting .331, his new teammate Shohei Ohtani hit .304, and Aaron Judge hit .311 in his MVP campaign. This isn't to say that Donovan will hit for the same power as these superstars, but even if he tries for more extra-base hits, his average shouldn't be affected too much.

It's certainly a bold prediction as Donovan has never hit above .290 in his short career, but I expect him to learn more from his past shortcomings, swing more aggressively, and elevate his batting average in turn. Ultimately, while average isn't as important of a stat as other hitting metrics, having a high-average leadoff man like Donovan will be highly beneficial to the Cardinals in 2024.

The Cardinals will make a splash at the Trade Deadline

We've said this before, but for once it looks like the Cardinals will be able to address wants at the Trade Deadline rather than needs. Cardinal fans know the drill. Typically, Mozeliak has to fill a lack of innings in the starting rotation simply because the Cardinals have run out of starters. Wade LeBlanc, Jose Quintana, Jon Lester, JA Happ, and even Jordan Montgomery were examples of this. Of course, Montgomery turned out to be much better than a mere innings eater, but he was acquired to fill a rotation spot, not to upgrade it.

This season, Mo and crew seem to have addressed this need before the season has even started, signing Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson for one year. Lynn and Gibson fit the mold of Lester and Happ, so barring injuries there won't be a need to get more pitchers like them at the Deadline. Even if Steven Matz suffers another unfortunate injury, they have plenty of options to fill his rotation spot with a quality arm.

Sure, with the Cardinals' traditional "just get in" philosophy, it's possible that they'd stand pat at the Deadline as they've done in years past but following the disappointment of 2023 and ownership's seemingly more urgent mindset, I'd expect the Cardinals to get aggressive if given the chance. Dylan Cease is an obvious choice, but if other playoff hopefuls fall out of contention, there could be names available we're not even thinking of. For example, if the Orioles stumble in a tough AL East division, they could look to move Corbin Burnes who will likely test free agency at the end of 2024. The possibilities are endless.

Do you have any bold predictions for 2024? Let us know on our social media platforms!