{"id":623554,"date":"2026-03-14T14:43:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T14:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/623554\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T14:43:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T14:43:41","slug":"cardinals-left-field-decision-complicated-by-wbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/623554\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals’ Left Field Decision Complicated By WBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who is going to be playing left field for the St. Louis Cardinals on Opening Day?<\/p>\n

If Lars Nootbaar were fully ready to roll, it wouldn’t be a question. Nootbaar is going to play a big role for the Cardinals, as he has over the last five seasons, but he had offseason surgery on both of his heels and is working his way back. Throughout camp so far, a few of the guys who have been options have been young utility man Thomas Saggese, Nelson Vel\u00e1zquez and Jos\u00e9 Ferm\u00edn. Nathan Church is another guy who could be an option.<\/p>\n

But, who will be the top option for St. Louis? There was a time when it seemed like it could be Saggese, but Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/a> suggested that Saggese’s exit for the World Baseball Classic, and a lack of opportunities at a new position in front of the Cardinals brass, could lead to a stint in Triple-A to get caught up. <\/p>\n

The Cardinals have a left field decision to make\"St.<\/p>\n

Feb 16, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Thomas Saggese (25) waits to hit during spring training workouts at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

“In theory, that lack of time might factor in the club\u2019s decision to bring Saggese with them when they break camp. If the coaching staff isn\u2019t comfortable with him as an outfield option with such little exposure out there, perhaps that means he gets time at Triple-A for the sake of playing the outfield. If that happens, it\u2019s not a calamity. It certainly won\u2019t ruin a season that\u2019s largely about evaluating all the club\u2019s options anyway. Saggese shouldn\u2019t regret his decision to play for Team Italy, but he might want to campaign for a few more at-bats.”<\/p>\n

If Saggese doesn’t end up making the club out of camp, arguably the top option for St. Louis should be Vel\u00e1zquez.<\/a> Church should be on the Opening Day roster as well.<\/p>\n

Vel\u00e1zquez has big-time power from the right side of the plate, which the Cardinals need after trading Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado away. He has played in 11 games in Spring Training for St. Louis and is slashing .300\/.417\/.633 with three homers, five RBIs, six walks and six runs scored. <\/p>\n

At some point in 2026, whether Opening Day or shortly afterward, the Cardinals should give Saggese a shot to show what he can do. If that time isn’t Opening Day, then Vel\u00e1zquez should get a shot. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who is going to be playing left field for the St. Louis Cardinals on Opening Day? If Lars…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623555,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2403],"tags":[5,160,4,673,67,4311,4310],"class_list":{"0":"post-623554","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-louis-cardinals","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cardinals","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-st-louis","12":"tag-st-louis-cardinals","13":"tag-stlouis","14":"tag-stlouiscardinals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116228065453904972","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}