photo: Jason Savacool (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals’ Low-A Palm Beach club finished the season four games under .500 and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years. The Beach Birds were led by Florida State League All-Stars Deniel Ortiz, Rainiel Rodriguez and Jason Savacool.
2025 results
In the East Division of the Low-A Florida State League, the Palm Beach Cardinals play as the St. Louis Cardinals’ representative. The FSL consists of ten teams: six in the West and four in the East. Most teams play home games at the spring training facility of their MLB affiliate. Because spring training ballparks are often larger than minor league facilities, this league can be more focused on pitching.
The regular-season schedule began on April 4 and ended on September 7. There were 130 games scheduled for each team; and the Cardinals played all 130. With an 63-67 record, Palm Beach had the sixth best overall record in the Florida State League.
The season is divided into two halves, with the two victors moving on as the postseason participants in each division. With a 32-33 record before the break, the Cardinals took second place in the East, two games behind the St. Lucie Mets.
In the second half, the Beach Birds continued to hover around the .500 mark, finishing in third place in the division at 31-34, 12 games behind Mets, who took the division in both halves.
Palm Beach finished the regular season with a home record of 34-31 and road mark of 29-36. The Cardinals struggled against the better teams, finishing with a record of 16-28 against teams with a record over .500.
For the season, the Beach Birds had a minus 20 run differential. They were 18-14 in one-run games but just 6-9 in extra innings.
Coaching staff
In his fourth season in the Cardinals organization, veteran manager Gary Kendall oversaw the 2025 Beach Birds. Last season, the veteran skipper from the Baltimore Orioles system led Palm Beach into the postseason and ultimately to the FSL Championship, and he was named the Florida State League Manager of the Year.
Michael Oh was the Beach Birds’ pitching coach in 2025. Oh was in his first season in the Cardinals organization after serving as the University of North Charlotte’s pitching coach. He also served as the Tar Heels’ pitching coordinator in 2022 following the conclusion of his collegiate playing career at Charlotte.
The offense was coached by Paul Benoit in his first year at Palm Beach. He joined the organization in 2024 as Springfield’s bench coach.
Pitching
As usual, pitching was the strength of the Beach Birds. From the starters to the back of the bullpen, they were very consistent.
In 2025, the Cardinals used a total of 24 pitchers, fewer than the 25 pitchers used the previous season. Only 17, though, pitched at least 20 innings with Palm Beach, and only five threw 70 innings.
The team ERA of 4.50 was eighth in the FSL, and their batting average against of .236 was eighth. They allowed 80 home runs, the third fewest allowed in the league, and they were third in strikeouts with 1218.
Cardinals’ pitchers walked the third most batters with a total of 665. This huge number of free passes issued made for a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.83 to 1.
Starting pitchers logged a collective ERA of 3.88, the fourth lowest in the league. Their batting average against of .228, was also the fourth lowest. They walked the seventh fewest number of batters at 233 and were first in strikeouts at 549. 15 different pitchers started at least one game for the Beach Birds, but just seven made more than 10 starts.
The relievers struggled mightily this season. Their 5.07 ERA was ninth in the league and opposing hitters averaged .243 against them, the third worst in the league. Another problem was their third highest walk total of 432, and their strikeout total of 669 was sixth in the league. They earned 26 saves against 26 blown opportunities, with their conversion rate an even 50%.
Roster considerations
In the Florida State League, each year consists of three seasons combined into one. The roster for opening day is first. Then, additional players from extended spring training joined the team as backfill when injuries required replacements or promotions to Peoria were earned. A fresh group of draft picks joined the Beach Birds as rookie professionals in July, while another group of veterans received promotions up to Peoria.
Just 10 players – four pitchers and six position players – were on both the opening day roster and the end of season roster. Over the course of the year, there were 143 transactions in between.
Many were players moving up from the Florida State League to Peoria, but an even greater number were young players getting their first taste of full-season baseball. Some stayed with Palm Beach, but others were sent back to rookie ball for additional experience. Naturally, after signing, some of the new draftees were also activated, including 2025 first-round pick Liam Doyle.
Key roster moves
During the season, promotions began with outfielder Travis Honeyman to Peoria in May. Then in June, catcher Josh Kross and right-handed starting pitcher Jason Savacool were also promoted to Peoria.
In July, relievers Mason Burns and Randel Clemente were promoted to Peoria. Then, after the draft, Palm Beach lost LHP Braden Davis, RHP Brandt Thompson, SS Anyelo Encarnacion, RHP Domenic Picone, and 3B Deniel Ortiz, all to Peoria.
In August, RHP Christian Worley, RHP Zeke Wood, LHP Jack Findlay, RHP Aaron Holiday, CF Jose Cordoba, RHP Tanner Franklin, C Sammy Hernandez, RHP Zack Showalter, and SS Christian Martin were called up to Peoria as well.
In September, rising star catcher Rainiel Rodriguez received the call to Peoria, where we expect him to begin next season.
Award winners
At the end of the season, three Cardinals received league All-Star nods, one starting pitcher, and two hitters. The Beach Birds were led by FSL All-Stars 3B Deniel Ortiz, DH Rainiel Rodriguez, and RHP Jason Savacool.
TCN Top Prospects
During the 2025 season, Palm Beach featured 11 of the Top 50 prospects in the Cardinals organization. They include five members of the Top 20 – #2 Liam Doyle, #8 Rainiel Rodriguez, #14 Tanner Franklin, #16 Deniel Ortiz and #20 Jack Gurevitch.
What is next?
2026 schedule just dropped👀 pic.twitter.com/ck5H5hUJyS
— Palm Beach Cardinals (@GoPBCardinals) October 10, 2025
More details on the Palm Beach Cardinals’ top hitters, relievers and starting pitchers are coming as we select the best of the best in upcoming articles in this series.
Check out The Cardinal Nation’s annual article series highlighting team results and top hitters and pitchers across the entire St. Louis Cardinals system. The Peoria Chiefs Season Review is next up.
The full schedule for The Cardinal Nation’s annual article series highlighting team results and top hitters and pitchers across the St. Louis Cardinals system can be found in the following article. After our free Team Recaps across affiliates, we will recognize individual player leaders through the current month and into November.
Now 20% off – 2025 Cardinals Prospect Guide
The Cardinal Nation Prospect Guide is back for its eighth year. It includes 256 pages of in-depth commentary about the very best St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguers, including dozens of all-new player scouting reports. Order your PDF or spiral-bound printed book copy today, with the latter on closeout for 20% off!
All paid members can purchase our Prospect Guide PDF at 50% off. Thank you for your support of The Cardinal Nation!
Order The Cardinal Nation’s 2025 St. Louis Cardinals Prospect Guide
Exclusively for members of The Cardinal Nation
Not yet a member?
Subscribe to The Cardinal Nation for the most comprehensive coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals from the majors through the entire minor league system.
Follow Steffen White on X/Twitter @steffen_white.
© 2025 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2025 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.