The Cardinals are heading into September with a chance to do two things at once: patch a battered big-league roster and take a longer look at a couple of players who could matter down the road.
On paper, the next stretch looks manageable. St.
Louis has 18 of its next 21 games against teams currently below .500, which at least keeps the door cracked on a late push. The club opens the final week of August against the Baltimore Orioles sitting at .500, a place that looked unlikely based on the offseason projections that had the Cardinals among the worst teams in baseball.
Even so, the bigger story is what comes with September. Once the calendar flips, MLB’s expanded rosters will let the Cardinals bring up one pitcher and one position player, and that should finally give Oliver Marmol some breathing room. He has spent the past 20 games piecing things together while Masyn Winn has been ailing and the pitching staff has taken a major hit.
The bullpen and lineup have both been stretched thin, and the front office now has a built-in chance to use the last month as a fact-finding mission with players sitting in Memphis.
The pitching side has been hit especially hard. Hunter Dobbins is likely done for the year, Andre Pallante is sidelined with a minor issue, and Marmol is trying to manage Kyle Leahy’s workload as a starter. Add in the struggles of Matthew Liberatore and the presence of prospect Quinn Mathews, and the rotation has plenty on its plate as the Cardinals try to survive the final 30-plus games.
If the club wants help for those overworked arms, Cooper Hjerpe looks like a natural candidate to get the call. He is already on the 40-man roster, and his minor league return from an arm injury has been strong.
In 38 innings, Hjerpe has piled up 55 strikeouts while allowing just 18 hits. He has started 14 games, and every one of those outings has lasted four innings or fewer, which fits with what Leahy has been doing lately.
That makes a piggyback arrangement a real possibility for the final four or so starts.
If Hjerpe stays in the minors to keep him healthy, Cade Winquest and Brycen Mautz are other bullpen options, though both have been working strictly out of relief. For rotation help, Pete Hansen, Mason Molina and Jurrangelo Cijntje are possibilities, but each would need to be added to the 40-man roster and none has been performing well lately. Cijntje has been the best of that group, though he is also already over 100 innings this year and could be handled with a pitch count.
The position-player side is trickier. The offense has had bursts where it looked dangerous, but it has also gone quiet for long stretches.
The top four hitters have been mostly the same all season, and the club already knows what it is getting from them as the year winds down. With everyone in the lineup except Ramon Urias still under 30, opening a runway for a prospect is not as simple as it would be on the pitching side.
That is why Victor Scott II and Thomas Saggese feel like the most logical names to watch. Neither has been lighting it up in Triple-A, but the players currently filling those spots in St.
Louis haven’t exactly forced the issue either. Scott’s speed remains his calling card, and he has been using it more lately in Memphis, though he still needs to reach base more often.
Saggese is the younger of the two and has less big-league experience, so he is not as urgent a promotion, but his versatility and minor league track record suggest there may be more there.
Whoever gets the first shot in September will have the quickest path to making an impression on the major league staff. That same player could also be the easiest to move on from later in the month. The lineup may not change much depending on which bat is added, but Marmol should have enough room to give these players a chance to work into the discussion for the 2027 roster.
In Other News...
Cardinals Lose Masyn Winn As Former Top Prospect Gets Another Shot
Masyn Winns thumb injury has created a new wrinkle for the Cardinals at shortstop, and it opens the door for another young player to get a look. Rookie JJ Wetherholt is expected to handle the position while Winn is on the injured list, giving St. Louis a chance to see how the infield holds up without one of its most important young defenders.
Nolan Gorman is also headed back to the major league roster, giving the club a familiar name with a different kind of upside. The former top prospect has struggled at the plate, but he still brings defensive versatility and power potential, which is enough to make this another meaningful shot at carving out a role as the Cardinals sort through their infield depth. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Trade Debate Looks Different After Early Returns Elsewhere
The Cardinals deadline dealings already look like the kind of moves that can be judged in layers, not in the moment. St. Louis sent Lars Nootbaar, Dustin May and Jojo Romero packing, and the early returns elsewhere have been uneven enough to keep the conversation open. Nootbaar has had a rough offensive stretch with Arizona, while May has shown the same kind of mixed results that can make a front office wonder what it really gave up and what it actually got back.
Romeros situation adds another wrinkle, since he has yet to pitch for Milwaukee after recovering from an emergency appendectomy and is expected to start a rehab assignment soon. For the Cardinals, that means the deadline debate still isnt close to settled, even if the first look around the league has been enough to make the trade feel more complicated than the original market price suggested. In a season where every roster decision gets reevaluated fast, these three names will remain part of the post-deadline conversation for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Bullpen Need Could Force An Overlooked September Call-Up
With the Cardinals still sorting through the back end of their bullpen, Hancel Rincn has emerged as a name worth watching in Triple-A Memphis. The right-hander has turned in strong performance metrics since July 1, and with St. Louis carrying open spots on its 40-man roster, there is a clean path if the club decides it wants another arm for the stretch run.
September 1 is the date to circle if the Cardinals want a closer look, since roster expansion gives them room to evaluate Rincn at the major league level without much procedural hassle. A move involving Hunter Dobbins to the 60-day injured list could also clear another opening, which only adds to the possibility that an overlooked bullpen candidate gets a real chance to prove he belongs in St. Louis. [Read more 🡒]