Cardinals' manager Oli Marmol said the club's combination of stellar young talent at the big-league level and a bevy of elite prospects in the Minor Leagues gives the organization a bright future for years to come.
Already excited about the prospects of coaching young standouts JJ Wetherholt, Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn and electrifying rookies Joshua Báez and Leo Bernal for years to come, St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol is quick to smile when he thinks about a future that also could include star Minor Leaguers Rainiel Rodriguez, Liam Doyle and Jesús Báez.
In his strongest words yet about the quickly blossoming talent the Cardinals have accumulated in recent years, Marmol predicted that future is incredibly bright for the Cardinals.
“This is the most excited I’ve been about our system in a long time, as far as what is currently in the (clubhouse) and what is coming,” Marmol said before his Cardinals opened their final series of the 2026 season at Busch Stadium. “It’s a really good time to be a Cardinals fan because what is coming (in terms of prospects) is real and what is in the (clubhouse) is real.”
In a season where the Cardinals clearly prioritized development over winning, the young and feisty mostly overachieved and stayed in the playoff race for months before hitting the doorstep of official elimination on Friday night. At 26 years, three months average age, the Cardinals have MLB’s second-youngest roster in 2026, yet to surged to as high as nine games above .500 twice before struggling badly in July and being beset by injuries in August and September. As a result the club will be on the outside of the playoffs for a fourth straight season – a first in decades.
Still, Marmol feels the season has been a success because the club got concreate answers about players such as young players like Ivan Herrera, Michael McGreevy, Quinn Mathews, Cooper Hjerpe, Walker, Winn and Wetherholt.
“Are you kidding me? Absolutely, it’s an incredibly successful year for a lot of reasons,” Marmol said. “We were able to accomplish what we set out to accomplish while internally and publicly stating it was a rebuild. We answered a lot of questions we went into the season with no answers to, while staying competitive and playing meaningful baseball all the way up to this point. I’m not sure what else you would want out of this year, so it was very successful year.”
Walker, 24, is a candidate for MLB’s Comeback Player of the Year award, while shedding three seasons of struggles and joining the 20-homer, 20-stolen base club in 2026. Wetherholt is likely headed toward a top-three finish in Rookie of the Year award voting, while Winn could repeat as the National League’s Gold Glove winner at shortstop.
Báez set MLB history with his Aug. 15 debut when he homered in the first three big-league at bats of his career, while Bernal set some franchise history with 12 RBI in his first 10 games.
Rodriguez, the likely Most Valuable Player of the Texas League even at 19 years of age, has been a driving force on the Cardinals’ Double-A winner. Doyle, the No. 5 pick in 2025 MLB Draft, has dominated foes over the second half of the season, while Jesus Báez – who was acquired in the 2025 trade with the Mets that centered around closer Ryan Helsley – has crushed 41 homers in High-A and Double-A in 2026.
Marmol is already looking forward to the day when all the Cardinals young players and prized prospects are together in St. Louis and pushing the club back to perennial contention for another World Series crown.
“This think when you go into (this) season, and the objective of the season is to find out what you have and what you don’t have , where the strengths are and where there are areas for improvement, I think we are now going into the offseason with 100 percent clarity,” Marmol said. “Then, you take a peek back at what’s in Triple-A and in Double-A, there’s a helluva lot to be excited about.
“Our (clubhouse) gets really good pretty darn quick if we continue to develop players, make strides and do what we’re supposed to do as a staff, and they respond the way they are supposed to. It’s always good to have players who have learned how to win together, and I don’t care even if it is the Minor Leagues. You learn how to win – not at the cost of development – them gaining that experience together is incredible, in my opinion.”
