José

Fermín

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.

Fermín gets demoted for the second time in four days to make room for Nolan Arenado. The 26-year-old is currently a better player than Thomas Saggese and probably Nolan Gorman, too, but the Cardinals just don’t see much upside with him.

The 26-year-old infielder drew a rare start in place of Brendan Donovan on Sunday and made the most of the opportunity. He smacked an RBI single off of Jose Quintana in the second inning that extended the Cardinals’ advantage to 2-0. Fermín then swiped second base on a double steal with Jordan Walker but was ultimately cut down attempting to steal home later in the inning. He has done a nice job so far during his time with the Cardinals, hitting .298/.389/.404 with a homer, five RBI and a pair of stolen bases in 61 plate appearances.

Donovan takes a seat with lefty Jose Quintana on the mound for Milwaukee after going 3-for-10 with his 10th home run of the season in a pair of contests since returning from the injured list. It’ll be José Fermín filling in at the keystone in this one.

Fermín returns to St. Louis’ middle infielder mix with defensive wizard Masyn Winn shut down for the rest of the season due to a lingering left knee issue that will require surgery. The 26-year-old figures to split time with Thomas Saggese at shortstop over the final two weeks.

Winn has been shut down for the final two weeks of the season and is slated to undergo arthroscopic surgery in near future to repair damage to the meniscus in his right knee. The 23-year-old likely upcoming Gold Glove Award-winning shortstop is expected to be ready for spring training. He finishes his second big-league campaign with an underwhelming .253/.310/.363 triple-slash line with 72 runs scored, nine home runs, 51 RBI and nine stolen bases in 537 plate appearances over 129 games. It’ll be Thomas Saggese and José Fermín taking over at shortstop in his absence to wrap up the season.