September has become an evaluation month in St. Louis, and the Cardinals have three big questions to sort through before the season runs out. With one month left in the first year of the Chaim Bloom era, the club is using these final games to learn what it has, what it can trust, and what needs to be addressed before 2027 becomes the target.
The catching picture is at the top of the list, and it’s changing again. Leo Bernal is set to make his Major League debut, Jimmy Crooks is heading back to Memphis, and Ivan Herrera remains the most important name in the mix. How those three finish the year should shape the Cardinals’ thinking moving forward.
Bernal brings the most complete profile of the group. He’s a switch-hitting catcher who can help at the plate and is also the best defender of the trio.
Minor league managers recently voted him the best defensive catcher at Triple-A, and he won the MiLB Gold Glove at the position last year. Now the Cardinals will get their first real look at him against big league pitching.
Herrera, meanwhile, has had a rough season at the plate. After being one of the best right-handed hitters in the game over the last few years, he has slipped to just 9% above league average offensively this year.
His heavy catching workload is something to keep an eye on, but the real answer won’t come until next season. If he catches fire in September, it would at least calm some of the concern.
Defense is still a problem for Herrera. He is not a good catcher yet, and his arm behind the plate is the worst in baseball. The Cardinals need him to improve dramatically over the offseason if he’s going to have a real future there, and they need the bat to wake back up too.
Then there’s the rest of the group. Crooks is on the way to Memphis, while Pedro Pages is barely seeing the field.
Pages feels like the likelier offseason trade candidate, but Crooks shouldn’t be ruled out either because he still has value around the league. Rainiel Rodriguez is coming, which makes this whole position even more crowded.
The bullpen is another area where September matters. The Cardinals are sorting through a wave of young relievers, and the group has changed a lot lately.
Luis Gastelum has emerged as a real weapon since debuting in July, while Cade Winquest and Brycen Mautz are now getting opportunities. Hancel Rincon is also expected to be called up today to make his Major League debut alongside Bernal.
This has been a year of the Cardinals’ player development staff helping unlock relief arms. Riley O'Brien and George Soriano have both had their moments, and Gastelum and Gordon Graceffo have recently made changes that pushed them into bigger roles.
With so many young arms in the mix, the Cardinals need to figure out which ones they actually trust going into 2027. Relief pitching can turn quickly, but getting a clearer sense of who can help next season will matter when the offseason roster work begins.
And then there’s the question of Nolan Gorman and Matthew Liberatore, two players who have been linked since they were kids and came up together with the Cardinals. If the season ended today, both would look like offseason departures.
Gorman has just returned to the big league roster after a long stretch in Memphis, and the numbers haven’t been kind. He’s hitting .187/.270/.320 with eight home runs and a 64 wRC+ in 68 games.
Since coming back, it has been even tougher, with a .111/.158/.333 line. Still, some of the expected numbers suggest there may be more there than the surface stats show.
Liberatore has had an even rougher year. Among starters who have thrown more than 130 innings, his 5.41 ERA is the worst in baseball, and opposing lineups have consistently knocked him around.
His strikeout stuff has improved, but too often he gets hit hard and can’t escape the big inning. That makes him difficult to trust.
Both players are entering their second year of arbitration this offseason, and the Cardinals appear to be leaning toward non-tendering Gorman and possibly Liberatore as well. There could be trade interest in Liberatore, and there’s also a chance the Cardinals keep him in the bullpen, but neither player can feel secure about his role next year.
A strong finish could still change the conversation. Neither Gorman nor Liberatore can play their way into a guaranteed starting job, but September gives both a chance to stay in the picture. If they don’t produce, they could be on the way out.
In Other News...
Cardinals May Have A Faster Path In Mind For Rainiel Rodriguez
Rainiel Rodriguez has already given the Cardinals plenty to think about with the bat, moving quickly through High-A and Double-A while continuing to look like one of the organizations most intriguing young hitters. At 19, he is still early in the development process, but St. Louis appears to be weighing whether his fastest route to the majors may not be tied strictly to catching, even as he continues to show he can handle the offensive side of the game.
Assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio said Rodriguez has already gotten some work at first base, and the Cardinals plan to explore additional defensive positions for him this offseason. With other catching prospects in the system and a bigger long-term need at third base or first base, the club seems open to a more flexible path if it helps Rodriguez reach St. Louis sooner. [Read more 🡒]
Kroenke Just Gave Cardinals Fans A New Team To Loathe
The Cardinals already know John Mozeliak well from his long run in St. Louis, and now his baseball future may be tied to a franchise entering a new era. Reports that Arte Moreno is selling the Angels to Stan Kroenke have created an immediate ripple effect, especially because Mozeliak is currently serving as the Angels interim general manager and could remain in place as the transition unfolds. There is also the possibility that he brings some staff from St. Louis with him, which would make this a familiar baseball story for Cardinals fans even if the team on the other coast is the one changing hands.
For St. Louis, though, the bigger reaction may be less about front-office movement and more about the name attached to the deal. Kroenke has long been a sore subject in this market because of the way his past decisions have intersected with St. Louis sports history, and his entry into Major League Baseball is likely to stir old frustrations all over again. What happens next with the Angels will matter on its own merits, but for Cardinals fans, this sale comes with a built-in edge before a single baseball decision is made. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Catch A Dodgers Break They Really Did Not Need
The Dodgers are getting healthier at a bad time for the Cardinals, who have spent plenty of the season trying to keep pace with the reigning powers in the National League. Los Angeles activated Will Smith, Dalton Rushing and Justin Wrobleski from the injured list and added Alex Freeland to the active roster, a reminder that the club is beginning to fill back in pieces that had been missing for a while.
For St. Louis, the biggest name in the group is Smith, whose return comes after nearly three months away with a neck injury. The Dodgers had to clear space by optioning Alek Thomas and designating Ben Rortvedt for assignment, but the broader picture is more concerning for opponents: a lineup and pitching staff that were already deep are getting closer to full strength again. [Read more 🡒]