photo: Rainiel Rodriguez (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The St. Louis Cardinals’ rookie level Jupiter-based Florida Complex League club improved slightly to fourth place while posting a sub-.500 record for the sixth straight season. Pitching and hitting were in the bottom third of the league but baserunning and defense improved. The promising start to the season changed 18 games in, when catcher Rainiel Rodriguez was promoted upward.

By Paul Ivice and Brian Walton

Baby steps for the Baby Birds

After losing six in a row in early July and falling into last place, the rookie level Florida Complex League Cardinals righted the nest to win six of their last nine games of the season and escape the division cellar.

Yet, the Cardinals did not log a winning month in 2025.

Even so, finishing fourth with a 24-31 record was an improvement over their results in recent years. The Cardinals broke their five-season streak of fifth place finishes that began in 2019 in the Florida Complex League East Division, and its Gulf Coast League predecessor. They came up just one win shy of matching their highest win total since they last won the division in 2018.

Still, 2025 marked the FCL Cardinals’ sixth consecutive losing season.

Against the Mets (8-6), Marlins (6-7) and Nationals (6-8), the Cardinals were pretty much a .500 club, but their struggles (4-10) against the runaway division-champion Astros sunk their season.

The biggest improvement of the 2025 FCL Cardinals over recent iterations of the team was on defense. In each of the past three seasons, the Baby Birds had committed the most errors in the league, averaging more than 93 per season. In contrast, the 2025 team committed just 73 errors, second to the Astros in the division and sixth fewest in the FCL.

The 22 errors the Cardinals committed in 14 games with the Astros, which led to 11 unearned runs, was fewer than the 25 errors and 14 unearned runs by the Space Cadets. However, that didn’t help the Cards overcome the Astros’ 24-hit, 13-walk advantage compiled in 14 games, as the Houston club outscored the Cardinals 77-61.

The 16-run differential normally wouldn’t result in such an imbalance as a 10-4 record (the Cardinals were 6-8 against the Nationals with the same 16-run deficit), but two of the Cardinals’ three double-digit scoring outbursts during the season were against the Astros, 15-1 and 11-5.

The Cardinals played even tighter defense against their other three opponents. In fact, in every season series, the Cardinals made fewer errors and allowed fewer unearned runs than their opponent.

The season’s turning point

Four weeks into the season, the Cardinals were performing relatively well, with a 9-8 record and a division-leading plus-32 run differential.

During the next week, catcher Rainiel Rodriguez was promoted to Palm Beach. At that time, as a team, the FCL Cardinals had 10 home runs, seven of which he hit. Even though five games had passed since his hot streak, during which the 18-year-old homered in four consecutive games, Rodriguez’ benefit was huge.

Honoring his hot streak, the FCL named Rodriguez the Player of the Week in mid-May and the league’s Player of the Month for May.

Rainiel Rodriguez

Without Rodriguez, over the final five weeks, the Cardinals went 9-14 with a minus-53 run differential. The team didn’t produce another home run for 10 games, and finished the season with 18, fewest in their division and 13^th in the 15-team league. Without Rodriguez, the Cardinals would have been dead last in long balls in the FCL.

Yairo Padilla

Even though they lost their power component, they still had speed to boost their offense – until they didn’t. Prospect shortstop Yairo Padilla stole 24 bases in 28 attempts before suffering a season-ending injury on July 5. He missed the final 23 games as teammate Yancel Guerrero eventually passed him by, the latter finishing with 26 steals.

Yancel Guerrero

The team’s two highest-ranked position players, two 18-year-olds from the Dominican Republic in their second year of pro ball, were expected to lead the offense. Rodriguez and Padilla did that for as long as they were in the lineup, but they simply weren’t active long enough.

Those were some of the factors steadily building toward the Cardinals’ complete collapse in Week 10, perhaps triggered by the injury to Padilla. But the biggest cause was the pitching staff, which had a 4.l5 ERA through 40 games, then had a 7.53 ERA during the six-game skid.

Alan Reyes

Even so, the Cardinals’ lone 2025 FCL All-Star was a pitcher, Alan Reyes. In 14 relief appearances, the right-hander posted a 0.70 ERA, held opponents to a .155 batting average and fanned 26 against nine walks in 25 2/3 innings.

Opportunism in wins

Batting average with runners in scoring position was a key factor in Cardinals victories, so we tracked that through the season. In their 24 wins, they were 73-for-281 (.260) with a runner in scoring position. They were 44-for-269 (.164) with RISP in their 31 losses.

For comparison, Cardinals opponents were 95-for-355 (.268) with RISP when they won and 25-for-185 (.135) when they lost. It wasn’t until the final week when the opponents’ batting average with RISP in their wins rose above the Cardinals’ average in their wins.

Team stats – season

When all was said and done, in Willi Martin’s managerial debut, the Cardinals were a bottom-third team in the FCL, ranked 11^th in both staff ERA and runs scored per game.

Offense (in the 15-team FCL)

The stolen base category was the only major offensive measure in which the Cards were not in the bottom third of the league.

• Runs – 233 – 11^th
• Hits – 328 – 13^th
• Doubles – 65 – tied for 11^th
• Triples – seven – tied for 12^th
• Home runs – 18 – 13^th
• Stolen bases – 139 – second-most
• Strikeouts – 497 – fifth-most
• Walks taken – 237 – fourth fewest
• Batting average – .214 – 13^th
• OBP – .336 – 12^th
• Slugging – .301 – 14^th
• OPS – .637 – 14^th

Pitching (in the 15-team FCL)

Though team ERA was 11^th of 15, same as the offense’s run scoring, other pitching stats were slightly better. Even so, the staff clearly was a bottom-half unit.

In an oddity, over the entire 55 game season, the Cardinals starting staff did not earn a single win. As a group, they went 0-12 with 43 no-decisions. Of course, a major reason is that the starters averaged fewer than three innings per outing. The Cards starters’ 156 inning total is fourth fewest in the league.

The bullpen was a collective 24-19, though as noted just below, their ERA was 11^th of 15 FCL teams. The relievers threw the eighth-most innings at 260.

• Team ERA – 4.67 – 11th
• Starters ERA – 4.27 – 9^th
• Relievers ERA – 4.95 – 11^th
• Hits allowed – 364 – tied for 10^th
• Batting average against – .232 – 10^th
• Walks issued – 252 – right in the middle (eighth most and eighth fewest)
• Strikeouts – 465 – right in the middle (eighth most and eighth fewest)

What is next

The Cardinal Nation’s 2025 minor league season review articles will continue with the Class-A Palm Beach Cardinals 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.

The Cardinal Nation’s Team Recaps and Top Players of 2025

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photo: Rainiel Rodriguez (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The rookie level Cardinals are off to a slow 1-4 start. Catcher Rainiel Rodriguez has two of the team’s three home runs and his 1.324 OPS is fourth in the league.

Settling into their slot

In their second season with the earlier start for the rookie level Florida and Arizona Complex Leagues, the 2025 FCL Cardinals quickly found their depth.

After a 9-2 win over the Mets on Opening Day, the Cardinals lost twice to the Nationals and twice to the Marlins. They finished the week 1-4 and reside in last place in the FCL East Division, 2 ½ games behind the Astros and Marlins.

Their 56-game schedule, which began May 3, will run through July 23.

Farm directors of the 30 MLB teams voted before the 2024 season to start the rookie leagues’ schedules earlier, changing the character of the complex leagues. Teams now are largely filled with players moving up from the Dominican Summer League, with some American college and high school players whose careers have been slowed by injury.

Of the 35 players on the FCL Cardinals roster starting the season, 16 are from the Dominican Republic, six are from Venezuela, five from the United States, four from Cuba, two from Mexico and one each from Colombia and the Bahamas. Ten pitchers and eight position players were with the FCL Cardinals for all or part of last season.

Two pitchers – 23-year-old Bruno Lopez and 21-year-old Jacob Odle – and 19-year-old outfielder Hancel Almonte – missed all of 2024 recuperating from injuries. Odle opened 2025 on the IL as well.

Three members of the Cardinals’ 2025 FCL squad are among The Cardinal Nation’s Top 50 Prospects.

Rainiel Rodriguez

Catcher Rainiel Rodriguez, 18, from Pimentel, Dominican Republic, signed in April 2024 for a reported $300,000. As a 17-year-old in the DSL last season, Rodriguez smashed 10 home runs in 41 games while posting a 1.145 OPS, which was second highest in the league, and throwing out 32% of base stealers. TCN’s no. 35 prospect was a 2024 DSL All-Star.

Keiverson Ramirez

Right-handed pitcher Keiverson Ramirez, 19, from Miranda, Venezuela, is ranked No. 37. He was signed at age 16 In January 2023 for a reported $75,000 bonus. Manager Willi Martin selected Ramirez as the Opening Day starting pitcher. In the DSL last season, Ramirez posted a 4-2 record with a 1.62 ERA in 11 starts, striking out 48 while allowing only 33 hits in 50 innings. He was twice The Cardinal Nation’s Pitcher of the Month in 2024.

Yairo Padilla

Switch-hitting shortstop Yairo Padilla, 17, from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, is ranked at No. 38.  The Cardinals signed Padilla for $760,000, the second-highest bonus amount among the organization’s 2024 international amateur free agent class. In 35 games in the DSL last year, Padilla hit .287 with one home run and 22 steals in 27 attempts. He joined Rodriguez as a 2024 DSL All-Star.

What happened this week?

With only 26 hits (.181 BA) and 23 walks (.310 OBP) in five games, the Baby Birds managed to score 24 runs. The key so far seems to be hitting with runners in scoring position. In their 9-2 win over the Mets, the Cardinals had five hits in 13 at-bats with RISP. In their four losses, they were 2-for-25, including an 0-for-11 in the 4-2 loss to the Marlins on Thursday.

On the pitching side, the staff was one of three FCL teams to allow more hits than innings pitched.  With 5.2 walks per game and a league-leading eight opposing batters hit by pitches, the staff posted a 1.71 WHIP, fourth highest in the FCL On the bright side, they were the only FCL team that didn’t give up any home runs and they struck out 10.4 batters per 9/IP.

The defense wasn’t especially helpful, making seven errors that led to seven unearned runs. The Cardinals and Marlins were the two East Division teams that allowed unearned runs about the 5.3 league average. The Marlins gave up eight unearned runs in only four games.

Hot hitters

Catcher Rainiel Rodriguez hit the ground running, or smashing, going 5-for-15 (.333) with four walks and two of the team’s three home tuns. His 1.324 OPS is third best in the league.

Yancel Guerrero

Corner infielder Yancel Guerrero had four hits, including the team’s other home run, but also fanned eight times in 14 at-bats.

Paulo Asprilla

Catcher Paulo Asprilla, a 19-year-old from Cartagena, Colombia, was 4-for-12 (.333) with four walks. Shortstop Yairo Padilla had only two hits and a walk in 21 plate appearances, but stole five bases in six attempts.

Hot hurlers

Alan Reyes

Alan Reyes, a 21-year-old right-hander from Sinaloa de Leyva, Mexico, made two strong relief appearances, striking out nine over 4 1/3 innings while allowing one walk and hitting one batter but allowing no hits. Reyes collected the win in the victory over the Mets.

Charles Harrison

In his first action since June 8, 2024, Charles Harrison, a 23-year-old right-hander from Los Angeles drafted in the seventh round in 2023 out of UCLA, had two scoreless relief appearances.

Antoni Cuello

Antoni Cuello, a 22-year-old right-hander from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, also had two scoreless relief outings.

Jovi Galvez

Jovi Galvez, a 20-year-old right-hander who struggled mightily with control issues in the FCL last season, showed some improvement. In 12 1/3 innings last season, Galvez walked 22 and hit nine batters, while allowing nine hits and striking out nine. In his three innings this season, Galvez gave up a hit, a walk and hit two batters, but only a single unearned run was charged to him.

The rotation

The Cardinals used four pitchers the first time through the rotation. Ramirez is the first to make two starts.

• RH Keiverson Ramirez
• LH Yadiel Batista
• RH Ronny Oliver
• RH Jefferson Moran

Injured list (6)

• RHPs Hunter Kublick, Miguel Martinez, Jacob Odle and Alec Willis are on the 7-day IL.
• RHPs Justin Hernandez and Brian Holiday are on the full season IL.

Transactions

• 5/7: C Maikel Hernandez from FCL Cardinals to Palm Beach.
• 5/8: RHP Samuel Fabian from Palm Beach to FCL Cardinals.

This week’s schedule

Most weeks, the Cardinals are scheduled to play five games, but this is the first of four weeks in the season during which they have only four games scheduled.

• Saturday off
• Sunday off
• Monday vs. Astros
• Tuesday at Astros
• Wednesday vs. Mets
• Thursday vs. Marlins
• Friday off

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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 printed book copy today!

All paid members can purchase our Prospect Guide PDF at 50% off. Thank you for your support of The Cardinal Nation!

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© 2025 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.