Cardinals May Have Something Special in Rainiel Rodriguez

The St. Louis Cardinals' future is extremely bright, to say the least.

Apr 24, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; A view of St. Louis Cardinals players hats and gloves in the dugout during a game with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-Imagn Images | David Kohl-Imagn Images

It's hard not to be excited about the long-term future of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The 2026 season was supposed to be the early stages of a reset with Chaim Bloom leading the charge as the team's president of baseball operations. It's just Bloom's first year leading the team and the club is currently sitting at 37-29 on the season with a roster that is tied with the Washington Nationals for the youngest roster in the league with an average age of 26.9 years old.

The Cardinals are just scratching the surface. We've seen Jordan Walker take a monumental step forward in 2026. JJ Wetherholt is playing very well, but he's a rookie. He should just get better. This is a young team that will get better with more experience in the majors. Plus, the Cardinals have one of the very best farm systems in the league. No. 1 prospect Liam Doyle has ace-level stuff and is down in Double-A right now. No. 3 prospect Joshua Báez is in Triple-A and has 18 homers and 49 RBIs in 59 games played. No. 4 prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje is unique and can pitch both righty and lefty and is in Double-A.

The Cardinals Have So Much To Be Excited About

Apr 21, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

There's so much to be excited about. Another guy not mentioned above, but thriving right now is No. 2 overall prospect Rainiel Rodriguez. For as good as Báez has been offensively, he's not even the Cardinals' top offensive prospect. That crown belongs to Rodriguez right now. He's just 19 years old and is already in Double-A. So far this season, he's slashing .264/.374/.440 with an .814 OPS, seven homers, 32 RBIs, six stolen bases, 11 doubles, one triple, and 37 runs scored in 51 games played.

Rodriguez bashed two homers on Thursday for Double-A Springfield. That may not sound exceptional, but to crush two homers in a Double-A game at his age isn't common. In fact, MLB.com's Jesse Borek pointed out that the only players younger than Rodriguez to reach this feat since 2005 are Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jackson Chourio, Sebastian Walcott, Konnor Griffin, Leo De Vries, and baseball's current No. 1 overall prospect Jesús Made.

That's a group you want to be a part of. Again, he's just 19 years old. He's already in his third professional season and won't turn 20 years old until January. The Cardinals already look like a playoff team. Imagine how good they're going to be when guys like Rodriguez, Doyle, Báez, and Cijntje reach the majors as well? It was a bad few years for St. Louis. There's no denying that fact. But the club has turned the corner and this is just the beginning. St. Louis is good this year and is just going to get better.