Cardinals May Already Have Their Next Core Established

Things are looking up for St. Louis.

Apr 29, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson (41) circles the bases on a two-run home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals stripped down their roster last offseason, moving four key veterans and claiming some important depth pieces for the future that went straight to their farm system. However, despite the rebuild, the Cardinals are actually playing quite well.

At 21-14, the team is just two games back of first place in the National League Central. They likely won't deviate from their long-term plan, and they shouldn't, but it's certainly encouraging for fans who weren't expecting a whole lot out of their team.

However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic notes that while they are rebuilding, the next young core and its leaders are emerging for St. Louis.

"With (Brendan) Donovan gone, shortstop Masyn Winn, first baseman Alec Burleson and backup catcher Pedro Pagés are emerging as leaders for the position players, left-hander Matthew Liberatore for the pitchers," Rosenthal wrote. "In recent years, St. Louis previously was a place where a number of young players failed, only to succeed somewhere else. Bloom is trying to reclaim the Cardinals’ identity as an organization built on young talent."

Cardinals' next core is emerging

May 2, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) turns a double play against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

Also part of the Cardinals next young core are Ivan Herrera and JJ Wetherholt. On the pitching side, they have arms such as Michael McGreevy emerging as one of their top starting pitchers.

The core is starting to come together rather quickly for St. Louis, and that could ultimately lead to this being a very short rebuild, with the Cardinals getting back into contention relatively soon. This is very encouraging for the Cardinals and their fans.

The time had come for them to reset their roster and focus on the future, but the trades they made already seem to be doing them a lot of good. Young players are free to go out and play and possibly make mistakes, but also learn from them and not have to worry about their jobs being on the line.

This has led to the team playing with a lot less pressure and doing so loose and relaxed. It has been a while since the Cardinals have been able to play without the burden of expectations, and as long as they can continue winning, they'll be a fun team to watch, and it will also be clear what their next core is going to look like.

It will be interesting to see just how things shake out for this team, but there are a lot of reasons to be excited.