{"id":669677,"date":"2026-04-08T05:35:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/669677\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T05:35:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:35:01","slug":"three-cardinals-on-thin-ice-to-save-roster-spots-after-slow-starts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/669677\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Cardinals on Thin Ice to Save Roster Spots After Slow Starts"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re just about two weeks into the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season. Enough time has past to start to judge performance on the field. <\/p>\n

The Cardinals have played in 10 games so far this season. St. Louis is 5-5 on the campaign<\/a>. There have been some very positive performances, like Jordan Walker, JJ Wetherholt, Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas, Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante, among others. <\/p>\n

There are other guys on the roster who need to step up in order to hold onto their roster spots. Here are the three guys worth watching the most over the next few weeks who could be at risk of losing their roster spots. <\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Ferm\u00edn \u2014 Utility Man\"St.<\/p>\n

Sep 14, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Jose Fermin (15) drives in a run with a base hit against the Milwaukee Brewers in the second inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Ferm\u00edn has played in just two games so far this season and has gone 0-for-2<\/a>. He made the big league roster out of camp to help as a depth option around the field, but specifically in left field with Thomas Saggese and Nathan Church. Of the three, Ferm\u00edn is at the bottom of the list. Neither Church nor Saggese has stepped up yet. Church is slashing .115\/.148\/.115 in nine games. Saggese is slashing .200\/.333\/.250 in six games. Nelson Vel\u00e1zquez was one of the biggest stars of Spring Training, but didn’t make the club out of camp. He’s down in Triple-A right now and has been off to a slow start as well slashing .048\/.167\/.048 in six games played with Triple-A Memphis. <\/p>\n

If Vel\u00e1zquez turns it around and nothing shifts with Ferm\u00edn in the big leagues, then the Cardinals will certainly have a decision to make. Right now, Ferm\u00edn is on the roster bubble, at the very least.<\/p>\n

Pedro Pag\u00e9s\/Yohel Pozo \u2014 Catcher\"St.<\/p>\n

Apr 4, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages (43) is hit by a pitch in the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Pag\u00e9s has had a consistent role behind the plate and Pozo has been more of a depth option. But both of these guys are on the bubble as well. That’s in large part because of the fact that Jimmy Crooks is tearing it up at Triple-A Memphis right now. He’s slashing .400\/.538\/.900 in six games with three homers and six RBIs. In the majors, Pag\u00e9s is slashing .200\/.273\/.350 with one homer and three RBIs in seven games.<\/p>\n

Pozo has played in just two games and has gone 0-for-5. With the way both are playing, arguably there’s no reason why Crooks shouldn’t get a shot soon. If these numbers look similar over the next few weeks, the Cardinals need to consider making a change. Crooks is simply playing too well not to be considered. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We’re just about two weeks into the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season. Enough time has past to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2403],"tags":[5,160,4,673,67,4311,4310],"class_list":{"0":"post-669677","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\/116367467553681386","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669677","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=669677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}