St. Louis Cardinals Face a Familiar Challenge: Finding Power in a Pitcher’s Park
In today’s game, front offices aren’t just hunting for well-rounded players - they’re targeting specific tools that can tip the scales. It’s less about building a roster full of five-tool stars and more about assembling a puzzle of elite skills.
And for the St. Louis Cardinals, one piece of that puzzle has been glaringly absent: power.
The Cardinals have made it clear in recent years that swing-and-miss pitching is a priority. That shift has been visible in their trades and draft strategies, especially leading up to and following the 2023 trade deadline.
There was even a moment during that deadline period when a team official, when asked about the mismatch between their stated goals and recent draft picks, could only shrug. “Better late than never,” seemed to sum up the approach.
That mindset carried into the recent trade that sent Sonny Gray to Boston. The Cardinals brought back Brandon Clarke, a high-upside arm who fits the swing-and-miss mold, and Richard Fitts, who’s more of a plug-and-play innings-eater. The message is clear: the reshaping under Chaim Bloom is ongoing, and the pitching side is still a work in progress.
But while the Cardinals’ pitching strategy is evolving, the position player blueprint is under just as much scrutiny - and arguably more urgency. The offense needs a jolt.
More specifically, it needs slug. Not just one bat, but multiple hitters who can park the ball over the fence and anchor the middle of the lineup.
That need has been magnified by the stalled development of two players the organization once believed would be the cornerstones of their power core: Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker.
Gorman came up with a bang, hitting 41 home runs in his first 689 big league at-bats. But even as he led the team with 27 homers in 2023, the warning signs were there - namely, a lack of consistent contact that undercut his power potential.
Over the last two seasons, he’s hit 33 homers in 716 at-bats. That’s not a collapse, but it’s a noticeable dip in power rate.
And the rest of his offensive game hasn’t picked up the slack. Add in concerns about his conditioning in 2025, and it’s fair to wonder whether the Cardinals and Gorman are heading toward a split this offseason.
Then there’s Walker. The Cardinals banked heavily on his bat, hoping he’d evolve into a consistent source of both contact and power.
But after hitting 16 homers as a rookie, he’s managed just 11 total over the past two seasons. The team is still backing his offseason development program, hoping for a bounce-back in 2026, but the reality is clear: they can’t pencil him into the middle of the order with any confidence right now.
It’s a far cry from the vision that existed after the 2022 season - the last time the Cardinals reached the postseason - when it was easy to imagine a lineup with Gorman and Walker battling for the team home run crown. At this point, getting above-average production from either would feel like a win.
The power vacuum has left others to pick up the slack. Willson Contreras led the team with 20 home runs last season, followed closely by Iván Herrera (19) and Alec Burleson (18).
That’s solid production, but not the kind of thunder you build a lineup around. In fact, 2025 marked the first time since 2015 that the Cardinals had only one player reach the 20-homer mark in a full season.
And no one has cracked 30 since Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado did it in 2022 - a year when they finished first and third in the MVP race.
There are some reasons to be optimistic, especially in the farm system. Josh Baez, now on the 40-man roster, slugged 20 homers across High-A and Double-A last season, finishing with a .500 slugging percentage.
That’s a big step forward after years of inconsistency. And Rainiel Rodríguez, still just 18, hit 20 homers across three lower levels while posting a .555 slugging percentage.
He’s further away, but the raw power is real.
JJ Wetherholt is another name to watch. He’s not a traditional slugger - his game is built more on gap power and athleticism - but he still managed a .510 slugging percentage between Double-A and Triple-A in 2025. He’s the kind of hitter who could have some peak power years, even if he’s not a 35-homer guy.
Of course, with power often comes strikeouts, and the Cardinals will need to weigh the risk-reward equation carefully. Their home park, Busch Stadium, doesn’t do sluggers any favors.
It suppresses home runs more than most venues, and that’s made it tough to lure elite power hitters in free agency. So if they want to add pop, they may have to gamble on prospects with raw power and imperfect contact skills - and hope their development system can bridge the gap.
There’s always value in manufacturing runs with contact and speed. But let’s be honest: there’s no substitute for the long ball.
The Cardinals haven’t done enough of that in recent years, and it’s holding them back. If they want to reshape this roster into a contender again, they’ll need to prioritize power - not just from one bat, but from multiple spots in the lineup.
The hunt for home run threats is officially on.