Cardinals 'Super-Utility Player' Rises To No. 1 Player At Position On New List

He's been one of the most surprising stories of the young 2025 season...

Sep 17, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of a St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals can point to at least one bright spot amid their less-than-successful start to the 2025 season.

St. Louis entered Tuesday with a 12-17 record, five games back of the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs and only one game ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates at the bottom of the division.

The Cards have struggled through the first month, but it hasn’t been due to their second baseman, that’s for sure.

Brendan Donovan has been absolutely on fire.

The 28-year-old Gold Glover from 2022 is having a ridiculous year so far, and on Tuesday, Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer accurately ranked Donovan as Major League Baseball’s No. 1 second baseman ahead of guys like Boston Red Sox’s Kristian Campbell, Milwaukee Brewers’ Brice Turang, and Los Angeles Dodgers’ Tommy Edman.

“A standout super-utility player in years past, Brendan Donovan has settled in as the primary second baseman for the Cardinals this season while still seeing some action at shortstop and in left field,” Rymer wrote.

“He leads the NL with a .359 batting average, and it is accompanied by a .396 on-base percentage, .930 OPS and 12 extra-base hits in 26 games.”

If Donovan keeps hitting anywhere close to this level, he’ll surely be an All-Star for the first time.

And with the Cardinals looking like sellers, big-market contenders like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers might soon be calling St. Louis about whether Donovan is available.

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