{"id":91894,"date":"2026-01-20T19:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T19:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/91894\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T19:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T19:30:21","slug":"youth-movement-in-st-louis-roster-features-springfield-cardinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/91894\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth movement in St. Louis’ roster features Springfield Cardinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

OPINION |<\/p>\n

Over the last 21 years, Springfield fans have watched a parade of young prospects polish their skills at Hammons Field before graduating to the big leagues in St. Louis to help the major-league Cardinals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From Josh Kinney as the original Springfield Cardinals alum to make his mark in the St. Louis bullpen, to 2025 National League Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn, the list of 143 is lengthy and impressive.<\/p>\n

And it appears that the 2026 season will have more of a Springfield flavor at Busch Stadium than ever before, as the St. Louis Cardinals have committed to a full-blown youth movement. The rebuild that\u2019s been put into motion by Chaim Bloom \u2014 trading veterans such as Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras this offseason \u2014 has cleared the deck for youngsters to fill the majority of the big-league roster in 2026.<\/p>\n

Some of the young, former Springfield Cardinals talent slotted for bigger roles in St. Louis returned to the old Double-A home ballpark last week as part of the annual Cardinals Caravan. They praised the fans here for their support and their time in Double-A as a key to development.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is a place where I started to blossom\u2019<\/p>\n

\"VictorVictor Scott II had 94 stolen bases in 108 attempts in 2023, playing in 66 games for both Peoria and Springfield. Now with St. Louis, Scott has a goal of stealing at least 70 bases in 2026. (Photo by P.J. Maigi, Springfield Cardinals)<\/p>\n

Victor Scott II was a fan favorite while playing the second half of the 2023 season at Hammons Field. Scott said he owes much of his development to his time here in what became a breakout season that saw him rocket into prospect territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like this is a place where I started to blossom, to kind of grow into the player who I\u2019m becoming,\u201d Scott said. \u201cThis was like the start of it and I was able to kind of show my game style, my gameplay here. And I just had a lot of fun doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott said he\u2019s set a goal of stealing at least 70 bases for the Cardinals this season and winning a Gold Glove in center field, joining Winn \u2014 Springfield class of 2022 \u2014 in that elite category. Scott was a finalist for the top defensive award a year ago.<\/p>\n

Leahy learned his eyesight was lacking under Hammons Field\u2019s lights<\/p>\n

\"\"Kyle Leahy bounced back strong from an 0-8 record in 2021 to lead the 2022 Cardinals in victories, strikeouts and innings pitched. Leahy is a contender for a spot in the St. Louis rotation in 2026. (Photo by P.J. Maigi, Springfield Cardinals)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, pitcher Kyle Leahy looks back on his days in Springfield as a mixed bag. A Division II player at Colorado-Mesa, Leahy was not a highly regarded prospect \u2014 especially after going 0-8 with an 8.20 earned run average for Springfield in 2022. But he turned it around the next year, going 10-7 and eventually making his big-league debut in 2024.<\/p>\n

Now, after two decent seasons out of the St. Louis bullpen, Leahy is a contender for a spot in the big-league rotation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s always been a personal goal of mine, to get in the rotation of the big leagues one day,\u201d Leahy said. \u201cSo we\u2019ll have that opportunity in spring, and we\u2019ll see how it goes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve taken my lumps and my bruises here as well, and learned a lot of lessons from this game here (in Springfield) and picked myself up from some pretty dark moments in my career and made it through. I think that has shaped a lot of things that you need to survive in this game over a long season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leahy recalled how he discovered his eyesight was lacking while pitching night games at Hammons Field, and he couldn\u2019t read signals from the catcher. It became an anxiety issue for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t wear contacts before, and the lighting here kind of made me realize that I can\u2019t see,\u201d Leahy recalled. \u201cI went and got contacts and it would take me 30 minutes to put contacts in before the game because I was afraid to touch my eyes at that point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI went through a lot of small little life things like that here that don\u2019t seem like much, but when you\u2019re freaking out before a game that you can\u2019t see, and if you can\u2019t put your contacts in with first pitch in an hour \u2026 it\u2019s little things like that that you don\u2019t think they would be a big deal, but I went through that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bernal proud of his minor-league Gold Glove<\/p>\n

\"\"Springfield Cardinals catcher Leonardo Bernal greets teammates after scoring the first run of the Baby Birds\u2019 season, on a single by third baseman Dakota Harris in the first inning on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Hammons Field in Springfield, MO. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)<\/p>\n

Another Cardinals prospect who isn\u2019t too far from possibly making it to St. Louis is catcher Leonardo Bernal. The Texas League all-star in 2025 was a key member of Springfield\u2019s second Texas League championship team, and he capped it off by winning a minor-league Gold Glove\u00a0\u2014 selected from all players at his position at all levels.<\/p>\n

Bernal said most people probably think of his hitting ability, but he\u2019s most proud of the Gold Glove as a member of an organization that featured Yadier Molina for two decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cYadi won like 13 Platinum Gloves and nine Gold Gloves,\u201d Bernal said. \u201cYou definitely want to be great (defensively) as a Cardinals catcher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wetherholt also expected to compete for starting role with St. Louis<\/p>\n

\"\"Springfield Cardinals short stop JJ Wetherholt looks on from the dugout during a game at Hammons Field. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)<\/p>\n

Probably the most-decorated Springfield alum in recent years didn\u2019t make the interview portion of the Caravan because of travel delays. Infielder JJ Wetherholt enters 2026 as one of baseball\u2019s top prospects and the Texas League Player of the Year in 2025. The 23-year-old is expected to contend for a starting position at second or third base in spring training.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Based on his past experience, Scott offered up some advice to Wetherholt about the transition from prospect to big-league regular.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a good process, a good routine, things slow down in the game,\u201d Scott said. \u201cSo that\u2019s something that if I could go tell the 2024 Victor, then I definitely would.\u201d<\/p>\n

Expectations around baseball are low for the big-league Cardinals as the organization\u2019s first true rebuild season in nearly three decades begins. Not that the young and hungry Redbirds are ready to buy into the term \u201crebuild\u201d when it comes to the standings.<\/p>\n

Many of the guys who came through Springfield together want to not only grow as a group in St. Louis, but also to win there as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a homegrown group, that has some true meaning to it,\u201d Scott said. \u201cWe\u2019re able to go out there and say, \u2018Hey, you\u2019re homegrown, I\u2019m homegrown, let\u2019s go win together.\u2019 We\u2019re excited about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

St. Louis at Springfield exhibition<\/p>\n

Many of those former Springfield Cardinals will return to Hammons Field on March 23 as the St. Louis Cardinals play a 6:05 p.m. exhibition game against the Double-A team. Tickets for the game are available through RED Access membership. For questions on how to access tickets, visit SpringfieldCardinals.com<\/a> or call (417) 863-0395.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLyndal Scranton\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Lyndal Scranton is a Springfield native who has covered sports in the Ozarks for more than 35 years, witnessing nearly every big sports moment in the region during the last 50 years. The Missouri Sports Hall of Famer, Springfield Area Sports Hall of Famer and live-fire cooking enthusiast also serves as PR Director for Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri and is co-host of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast. Contact him at Lscranton755@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @LyndalScranton. More by Lyndal Scranton<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OPINION | Over the last 21 years, Springfield fans have watched a parade of young prospects polish their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[45314,4662,45315,45316,45317,45318,45319,45320,178,180,179,45321,45322,45323,45324,12013,38613,32555,38614,45325],"class_list":["post-91894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-aa-baseball-in-springfield","tag-baseball","tag-baseball-prospects","tag-cardinals-caravan","tag-cardinals-minors-leagues","tag-jj-wetherholt","tag-kyle-leahy","tag-leonardo-bernal","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-springfield-cardinals","tag-springfield-mo-baseball","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-st-louis-cardinals-prospects","tag-topsports1","tag-topstories","tag-topstories1","tag-topstories2","tag-victor-scott-ii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}