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By Curt Bishop
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The St. Louis Cardinals have a lot of question marks entering the season after trading away some of their main veterans in the offseason. Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado were all traded to contending teams.
The biggest concern was left field, which was up for grabs after Lars Nootbaar underwent surgery on both heels at the end of the 2025 season. They gave Thomas Saggese, Jose Fermin and Nelson Velazquez opportunities to compete for the starting job.
However, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News Democrat reported Monday that the Cardinals likely have a clear favorite to win the job.
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"What started as the most open competition in Cardinals camp is progressing toward an earned conclusion," Jones posted on X. There’s no guarantee it’ll carry over into and throughout the regular season, but there’s also very little doubt that Nelson Velázquez will be in left on opening day.
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Velazquez was signed to a minor league contract before the start of spring training. The 27-year-old hit his fourth home run of the spring in Sunday's 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals and is hitting .333 with nine RBI and a 1.163 OPS in 33 at-bats.
There is still no timetable for Nootbaar's return, so the Cardinals may end up using Velazquez in left field for an extended period of time. They had been looking for a right-handed outfield bat with power, but Velazquez may prove to be just what they were looking for over the winter.
It will be interesting to see what the Cardinals decide to do, but the likely favorite to start in left field is Velazquez.
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