Redbird Rants writers' predictions for the St. Louis Cardinals 2025 season

Happy Opening Day, St. Louis Cardinals fans! It is officially time for our annual Redbird Rants writers' predictions. Expectations for this club are all over the place, and our staff is excited to see what this year has in store for the club,

Josh Jacobs (@joshjaco98) 

Team MVP: Willson Contreras

After transitioning to first base this offseason, Willson Contreras is going to shock the baseball world by earning an All-Star appearance and finishing top 10 in NL MVP voting. While Contreras’ glove won’t be considered for a Gold Glove, he will be an above-average defender in his first season at first base, and now that his legs are fresher each day and he can play 140+ games, Contreras will lead the team in OPS, home runs, and RBI, and prove he’s one of the best bats in all of baseball.

Breakout Hitter: Lars Nootbaar

I know, I know, it feels like every year now Lars Nootbaar finds his name on “breakout” lists. With the Cardinals mostly running back the same group of position players, they need them to take a step forward, and Nootbaar will do so in a meaningful way this year by staying on the field and producing at a high level. Look for Nootbaar to post a 125+ wRC+ and play in 140 games this season.

Breakout Pitcher: Tekoah Roby

I’m not sure we’ll see Tekoah Roby in St. Louis this year, but he is going to establish himself in the same tier of pitching prospect as Quinn Mathews and Tink Hence (along with Cooper Hjerpe doing so as well). We got a glimpse of how dynamic Roby can be on the mound in spring training, and that will only continue throughout the minor league season as he regains his prospect pedigree and shows why he could be a middle-of-the-rotation starter or better at the big league level.

Bold Prediction: The Cardinals hire Albert Pujols as their manager 

Even though I have defended Oliver Marmol in the past, Albert Pujols just makes way too much sense to lead the Cardinals in this new era, and the timing is perfect to make that change. Pujols has the aura and ability to right the ship at the Major League level and draw fans back to Busch Stadium, and he could be the leader of the Cardinals clubhouse for many years to come.

2025 Team Summary:

Stuck in between two worlds, the Cardinals are unable to successfully serve two masters at once, sputtering in both their desire to give runway to young talent and surprise some people in 2025. The team will finish with an 80-82 record and potentially sell some pieces at the deadline, and while the future will look bright in some respects, the club will also have a lot of questions that Chaim Bloom is forced to answer come the offseason