Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Have One Of Baseball's Biggest 2025 Breakout Stars

The Cardinals have a budding superstar on their hands...
Patrick McAvoy|
Feb 26, 2021; Jupiter, Florida, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the stadium at Roger Dean Stadium during spring training workouts. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images
Feb 26, 2021; Jupiter, Florida, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the stadium at Roger Dean Stadium during spring training workouts. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images | Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

When the Major League Baseball All-Star Game gets here in July, the St. Louis Cardinals should be well-represented.

The Cardinals are 33-26 on the season so far and have been one of the most surprising teams in baseball. St. Louis has had plenty of guys shine this year, but the guy who has stood out the most arguably is Brendan Donovan.

The 28-year-old has played in 56 games so far this season and is slashing .323/.383/.461 with four home runs, 24 RBIs, three stolen bases, 18 doubles, 31 runs, and a league-leading 70 base hits. The Cardinals entered the season with significantly more questions than answers. Donovan has stepped up when the team has needed him the most.

Unsurprisingly, there's already been a lot of buzz about why he should represent the Cardinals in the All-Star Game this summer. The Athletic's Grant Brisbee is the latest to push for Donovan earning an All-Star nod.

The Athletic gave their latest power rankings and had the Cardinals tied for No. 11 and specifically said Donovan should be an All-Star.

"Record: 33-26," Brisbee said. "Last Power Ranking: 12. Make him an All-Star: UTIL Brendan Donovan. Some writers never learned the difference between Tommy Edman, Nolan Gorman and Brendan Donovan. There’s no sense naming names*, even though it’s lazy to conflate every multi-positional Cardinals infielder with a name that ends with -an. When the Cardinals call up Paulie Dillman, Brody Corklan and/or Stephen Manovan, these writers will get even lazier and assume they’re all similar players, too. Well, maybe they are, and maybe they aren’t. Do some research.

"It’s clearer now, though. Edman is the one on the Dodgers. Gorman is the struggling youngster. Donovan is the All-Star. He’s the Steven Kwan of middle infielders, and if you’re thinking his batting average is inflated, check out his xBA (expected batting average) on Baseball Savant. The average is right where he should be, and it’s just one of the reasons he’d be a worthy All-Star."

Brisbee isn't wrong. Donovan absolutely should get rewarded for his play so far this season.

More MLB: Yankees Nearly Avoided Ex-Cardinals Superstar Paul Goldschmidt

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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