Top 5 St. Louis Cardinals with most to gain from the World Baseball Classic

These St. Louis Cardinals have the most to gain from the World Baseball Classic

The St. Louis Cardinals have an MLB-high 19 players headed to four countries for the start of the World Baseball Classic. With plenty of spots to be won and lost during the preseason, there is a handful of Redbirds who can help themselves with a great WBC.

While there are many positions that are already spoken for, including the newly vacant catching position, there are a variety of players who needed a strong spring to earn a spot on the 2023 St. Louis roster to start the season.

Of the 19 players that will take part in the international tournament, 13 have spots on the Cardinals' 40-man roster. The other six players do not figure to have much of an impact on the 2023 season, with the exception of Oscar Mercado of Team Colombia.

St. Louis has a variety of MLB superstars participating in the tournament, including reigning NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt and finalist Nolan Arenado. There are, however, five Cardinals who could introduce themselves to St. Louis' 2023 plans with a big showing at the World Baseball Classic.

5. Tyler O'Neill

Tyler O'Neill would not make this list if not for two things happening. A 2022 injury-plagued season and the emergence of a first-round pick by the name of Jordan Walker.

International sensation Lars Nootbaar should be thrown into this spot as well, but given his strong finish to the season last year, O'Neill makes the list. The outfield situation in St. Louis for the last 10 years has been in question.

From Randall Grichuk to Stephen Piscotty, to Tommy Pham, to Harrison Bader, the outfield has been a constant question for the Cardinals. While many fans want to believe that the team has it figured out with this bunch of outfielders, it just isn't the case again in 2023.

For O'Neill, he is still just two years removed from posting an MVP-like season after slugging 34 home runs with 26 doubles and 15 stolen bases over 138 games. The question with O'Neill is whether or not he can stay healthy for an entire season. His 2021 total of 138 games marks the only time in his career that he has passed the century mark in appearances.

Alec Burleson does not have a chance at making the starting outfield in 2023, which leaves manager Oli Marmol with a four-man race for three spots on the opening-day roster. O'Neill will be one of those three, but a strong World Baseball Classic will go a long way in ensuring his spot.

O'Neill will represent his home country of Canada in one of the toughest pools in the tournament. The Canadiens will have to go through the United States, Colombia, Great Britain, and Mexico to claim one of the top two spots in the pool.

Even if Team Canada defeats Mexico, the lack of MLB talent on the roster still places them behind Colombia and the United States in terms of Pool C superiority.

4. Andre Pallante

Andre Pallante was a swiss army knife for the Cardinals' pitching staff last season. Marmol used him both as a starter and a reliever last year and excelled at just about everything he did in 2022.

Pallante makes the list not because he is in jeopardy of not making the opening-day roster, but because he has a chance to earn a high-leverage, late-inning role for the Cardinals this season.

In his rookie year, the 24-year-old netted a 6-5 record with 10 starts to his name, a 3.17 ERA, and 73 strikeouts in 108 innings of work. He was especially effective against lefties, holding them to a .246 batting average against.

With the decline of Jordan Hicks over the last two years, and the ascension of Giovanni Gallegos and Ryan Helsley, the Cardinals are in need of another dynamic arm late in games, and Pallante is the perfect in-house candidate for the role.

The righty's start to the World Baseball Classic has already been a positive one. In Team Italy's historic win over Team Cuba, Pallante notched two scoreless innings in relief of Matt Harvey.

With Italy splitting its first two games of the tournament, Pallante might have the chance of pitching in the quarterfinals, should they qualify. There is still work to be done against the rest of Group A, however.

3. Ivan Herrera

Once thought of as one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball, Ivan Herrera now seems blocked behind newly signed Willson Contreras for the next five years, or until Contreras makes a permanent move to DH.

The catcher departed spring training in Florida for Team Panama in the middle of one of the most important preseasons of his career. With Contreras and Andrew Knizner fully healthy, he was destined for AAA Memphis, but his future with St. Louis is in his own hands.

He received a promotion to the major league level for the first time in his career last season and while his offense seems to be a strong point in his game, the way he handled the pitching staff and his defensive acumen was not major-league ready.

In 11 games and 22 at-bats for St. Louis last season, Herrera managed just two hits and one RBI. However, he had a solid year with the Memphis Redbirds in 2022. Herrera blasted six home runs at AAA and finished the year hitting .268 with 34 RBIs.

Unfortunately for Herrera when it comes to the WBC, he seems to be the third-string catcher for Team Panama. He is blocked behind MLB mainstay Christian Bethancourt and he has yet to see the field in the WBC.

This makes every chance he gets in the tournament crucial for his future. He will likely get enough at-bats when he returns to spring training, but it would be nice to see Herrera perform against some of the world's best arms.

Panama dropped two of its first three games to begin the tournament, so it's unlikely we will see any progress from the Cardinals' backstop in the next week or so.

1. Genesis Cabrera

Genesis Cabrera was one of the Cardinals' best left-handed arms in recent memory in 2021. He saw action in 71 games for St. Louis and was a big part of the success that the bullpen had and a big reason why the team was able to capture a spot in the postseason.

It was a different story in 2022 for the Dominican native. He appeared in just 39 games for St. Louis last year and was eventually demoted to AAA. At most times through the season, you didn't know if you would get 2021 Cabrera or a version of him who couldn't throw strikes.

Now, Cabrera dawns the colors of the Dominican Republic, one of the tournament's favorites and potentially the greatest roster ever assembled. If you want to see Cabrera pitch in some big games, you could not ask for a better team for him to land on.

Pool D is possibly the deepest group in the World Baseball Classic. With the DR and Team Puerto Rico as the favorites, you cannot overlook the star power of Team Venezuela.

Cabrera will have every chance to earn a spot in the bullpen to begin the year, and if he pitches well, he could be trusted with the seventh or eighth inning of games. His journey back to his 2021 form begins Saturday night in Miami against Venezuela.