José Fermín homers, scores three times

Burleson usually gets to play against southpaws, but the Cardinals will give him a day off against Eduardo Rodriguez and the Arizona staff. Blaze Jordan will get the start at first base, and Jose Fermin will handle the hot corner while Burleson rests.

Wetherholt takes a seat following five consecutive starts after missing time last weekend with groin soreness. The 23-year-old rookie standout hit .286 (6-for-21) with four runs scored and three RBI during that five-game span. It’ll be José Fermín drawing a start at the keystone in his place.

Winn gets a much-needed breather after playing every inning in each of the team’s last 15 ballgames. He has seen his offensive performance fall off substantially once again this season, slashing just .236/.318/.322 with only two homers, 24 RBI and five stolen bases through his first 239 plate appearances. Jose Fermin will start in his place at shortstop and bat seventh for the Cardinals on Sunday against Reds’ right-hander Rhett Lowder.

No word on the reason for the move. Thomas Saggese takes over in left field to face Guardians starter Joey Cantillo.

That’s unexpected. It’d been clear for a couple of weeks that Nootbaar would open up on the IL following his heel surgeries, but it was supposed to be the 10-day. Nootbaar has been hitting and throwing since the beginning of the spring and recently resumed running, but we take it that didn’t go as well as hoped. Nathan Church, Thomas Saggese and José Fermín will divvy up his at-bats for at least the first two months.

Statcast says the single through the left side of the infield left his bat at 111.4 mph. We’re guessing the calibrations were a little off there, though, given that Fermín has never eclipsed 105.7 mph as a major leaguer. Still, Fermín is pretty interesting as perhaps the Cardinals’ best leadoff option with Brandon Donovan gone. The 26-year-old hit .283/.377/.417 in 70 major league plate appearances last season and came in at .300/.428/.485 in Triple-A. He might not be a mixed-league guy even if he does wind up playing regularly, but he’s an NL-only sleeper.

Wetherholt has an opportunity to break camp on St. Louis’ season-opening roster with a strong performance in Grapefruit League play and possesses the advanced hit tool and emerging power skillset to be a colossal fantasy difference-maker at a relatively weak second base position group. The 23-year-old top prospect batted .306/.421/.510 with 17 homers and 23 steals in 109 games in the upper minors last season and could split time between third base and the keystone with defensive wizard Masyn Winn occupying shortstop. It feels like only a matter of time before he ascends to the top of manager Oli Marmol’s lineup card as a top-of-the-order spark plug. The other interesting name to watch is power/speed combo threat Joshua Baez, who broke out with a 16-homer, 34-steal campaign at Double-A Springfield last year. Here’s the full lineup: Winn (SS), Alec Burleson (1B), Nolan Gorman (3B), Pedro Páges (C), Wetherholt (2B), José Fermín (LF), Nathan Church (CF), Baez (RF) and Blaze Jordan (DH).

Three prospects and two picks, which are set to be 68th or 69th and 72nd or 73rd overall, seems like a fair return for Donovan, who departs two years before becoming eligible for free agency. The move comes just one day after the Mariners revealed that Cijntje, the switch-pitching 2024 first-round pick, would focus on being a right-handed starter this spring and would likely be limited to throwing bullpen sessions left-handed. We’ll have to wait and see if the Cardinals feel the same way. Cijntje throws considerably harder right-handed and projects as a mid-rotation starter used traditionally. He had a 4.58 ERA in 74 2/3 innings in High-A and a 2.67 ERA in 33 2/3 innings in Double-A last year, and he’s probably still a full season away from contributing in the majors. With Donovan joining Nolan Arenado in exiting, the Cardinals now have two starting infield spots available for Nolan Gorman, José Fermín, Thomas Saggese and top prospect JJ Wetherholt. It seems likely that Gorman will get one of them against righties, no matter how little he’s done lately to deserve it.

Making his first start since his latest recall on Wednesday, Fermín hit a 356-foot double down the left-field line that would have been a homer in 21 ballparks. He also had a well-struck lineout on his other ball in play. He has an .817 OPS in 59 plate appearances this season, but the Cardinals are still far more interested in giving at-bats to Nolan Gorman (.669 OPS) and Thomas Saggese (.651 OPS).

Fermín was just sent to Triple-A on Monday, but with Willson Contreras (shoulder) landing on the IL, the Cardinals were able to bring him right back to the MLB team. The 26-year-old will operate as depth all across the diamond.