The hot corner will still be a hot topic for the Cardinals at this time next year

The top of the St. Louis Cardinals order has produced like a juggernaut for most of the season, but the surrounding spots in the lineup have not yet picked up the slack. With one of the best first four in baseball, the bottom of the order has been an issue for most of the season and is a contributing factor to the team's overall middling numbers. With a core in place, the focus turns into who is next at these spots and it unfortunately appears the answer for the hot corner is still a ways away.

After bidding Nolan Arenado adieu this offseason, the Cardinals had a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger sized hole to fill at third base. As a rebuilding organization does, Chaim Bloom had hoped to replace some output with currently rostered, younger players like Nolan Gorman. Besides Gorm, Bloom signed veteran Ramon Urias as insurance and had Cesar Prieto, Thomas Saggese, Jose Fermin, Blaze Jordan, and Bryan Torres ready for their call-up from Memphis. 120+ games into the 2026 season, however, the Cardinals may be further away than ever at finding their next great third baseman.

Cardinals third base problem will be on the forefront next season

Nolan Gorman failed to take advantage of his first true runway as the St. Louis third baseman and has been down in Memphis since early June. His season-long struggles brought his career batting average to .215 and his strikeout rate to an astonishing 33.8% through his first five years in the majors. His stay in Triple-A has not improved those numbers as he is hitting .186 with a near-35% K-rate to go along with 12 homers. That, along with Ramon Urias being hurt most of the season, caused the Cardinals to go to those youngsters, but none of them took hold of the role.

Thomas Saggese had a short opportunity to mix in at third, but like the others, he did not do enough to be in the everyday plans. Blaze Jordan has been their most used third base option this year, playing 41 games at the hot corner with Fermin's 17 sitting at second on the team. The entire group has combined for a 70 wRC+ at the position, which puts them at third-worst in the majors just in front of the Reds and Marlins.

As a third baseman, Jordan has put up an 88 wRC+ and played passable defense despite recency bias pointing towards his struggles with the glove. His overall season line is almost fine, with a .253 average and a .664 OPS being helped by his team-leading four triples. The disappointing part of Jordan's game has been the lack of power, but everything else is pretty much as expected with the 23-year-old rarely striking out or walking.

Blaze is still young and has shown plenty of growth in his first taste of the majors, and to me is still the frontrunner as the team's third baseman in 2027. That may not do well to inspire confidence in the future, but worst case scenario, Jordan could be a placeholder for whoever is the next in line for the hot corner. Further down in the system is power-hitting Jesus Baez and he could eventually be an option there, but the 2027 season may be too early to expect him in St. Louis.

Unless there are some major changes in front office heading into the 2027 season, the free agent crop of third basemen also do little to force Bloom into shelling out cash. The youngest free agent options are Isaac Paredes and Bo Bichette, who are at least young enough to match with current veteran Alec Burleson, but may still be too old (and overpriced) to be pursued in the offseason. Paredes also has a $13 million team option, so outside of Bichette, the next youngest is Alec Bohm, who is 30-years-old and likely looking to join a contender as his next stop.

Without changes in Jordan's production or some type of acquisition during the offseason, third base might be a thorn in the Cardinals lineup next season. Joshua Baez and Jordan Walker are hoping to be corner outfield futures with Alec Burleson settling in at first and Ivan Herrera looking like a DH. JJ Wetherholt and Masyn Winn have been dynamic with the gloves up the middle, leaving third base and center field as next priorities. The outfield minors depth looks solid, but the same cannot yet be said about third.

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