photo: Pedro Pages (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
SABR’s defensive metrics through June 8, with the final results accounting for 25 percent of the Gold Glove Award scoring, rank seven of eight St. Louis Cardinals position players positively. Catcher Pedro Pagés leads the way.
Our eyes tell us that the 2025 St. Louis Cardinals have addressed many of their defensive woes from recent seasons – and the metrics back up the perception. One big reason why is the improving play up the middle – with catcher Pedro Pagés, center fielder Victor Scott and shortstop Masyn Winn among the top defenders at their positions.
This week, the trio were announced as being among the National League’s better defenders during the first period of the 2025 season. This is according to the SABR Defensive Index, or SDI, compiled through June 8.
In fact, seven of eight Cardinals position players have a positive SDI score, as do three of the five members of the team’s starting rotation.
Since 2013, the consolidated metrics-based view of player performance in the field has accounted for 25 percent of the annual Gold Glove Award scoring, with further updates coming during the second half and at season’s end.
No measure is the be-all, end all, which is why actual voting by managers and coaches still make up the lion’s share of the Gold Glove scoring, 75 percent. But the SDI has a solid foundation, based on not one, but a group of defensive metrics. Though some discount any single-season’s worth of fielding results, those behind the SDI originally created and refined many of the measurements and devised the Index as a blended measure of multiple stats. (SDI background can be viewed here.)
How Cardinals fared
With SDIs of 3.5, 2.1 and 1.3, respectively, Pagés, catcher-turned first baseman Willson Contreras and Scott rank second, third and fourth, among National League players at their positions. In fact, Pages’ score, tops among Cardinals, is 15th highest among all NL defenders regardless of position.
That Contreras has transitioned so quickly to his new position has to be considered a major positive, as a plus defender at first helps the other infielders, as well.
Also in the top half of qualifying NL players at their respective positions are Winn, down to fifth among shortstops after ranking first in SDI last season, Nolan Arenado, sixth at third base and in another positive development, Jordan Walker is seventh among NL right fielders.
Sonny Gray is eighth among the 39 qualifying NL pitchers. Miles Mikolas and Matthew Liberatore each have a positive SDI, though they are below the midpoint of pitchers ranked (at 20th and 21st). Andre Pallante and Erick Fedde have negative SDIs and are near the bottom of the NL pack.
Brendan Donovan has an SDI of 0.8, which is just 10th of 14 qualifying second basemen. Yet his SDI for 2025 to date at second base is substantially higher than his 2024 -1.2 mark in left field.
The major negative surprise among Cardinals is Lars Nootbaar, who stands out as the only ranked Cardinals position player with a negative SDI, at -2.0. Ranking third to last among left fielders to date in 2025 is in major contrast to his 2024 placement of second among NL right fielders.
Other declines are less surprising. Arenado is no longer considered the top hot corner defender in the NL but remains considerably above average. Though Winn has slipped to fifth in the early going in 2025, there is time for that trend to be reversed.
In the table below, the NL leaders by position are listed to the left with Cardinals’ scores to the right and how they rank among NL players at their respective positions. The “Trend” field indicates whether each Cardinal’s SDI is higher or lower compared to his full season 2024.
| NL Jun 2025 | Top NL SDI | SDI | Cards Jun 2025 | SDI | Rank | Trend from 2024 FY |
| Pitcher | Spencer Schwellenbach, Atl | 3.7 | Sonny Gray | 1.1 | 8th of 39 | up |
| Miles Mikolas | 0.2 | 20th | up | |||
| Matthew Liberatore | 0.1 | 21st | NR | |||
| Andre Pallante | -1.0 | T32nd | NR | |||
| Erick Fedde | -1.2 | T36th | down | |||
| Catcher | Patrick Bailey, SF | 6.8 | Pedro Pagés | 3.5 | 2nd of 16 | NR |
| First base | Matt Olson, AtL | 9.6 | Willson Contreras | 2.1 | 3rd of 14 | NR at 1B |
| Second base | Nico Hoerner, ChC | 6.1 | Brendan Donovan | 0.8 | 10th of 14 | up from LF |
| Third base | Ryan McMahon, Col | 7.0 | Nolan Arenado | 1.9 | 6th of 15 | down from #2 3B |
| Shortstop | Nick Allen, AtL | 5.3 | Masyn Winn | 0.6 | 5th of 14 | down from #1 SS |
| Left field | Ian Happ, ChC | 3.9 | Lars Nootbaar | -2.0 | 10th of 12 | down from #2 RF |
| Center field | Pete Crow-Armstrong, ChC | 4.9 | Victor Scott | 1.3 | 4th of 13 | NR |
| Right field | Fernando Tatis, SD | 8.3 | Jordan Walker | 0.1 | 7th of 14 | NR |
While it would be easy and not inappropriate to feel good about the Cardinals’ overall SDI showing, it should not be overlooked that the Central Division-leading Chicago Cubs employ three of the National League’s current leaders in SDI.
If the SDI was worth 100% of the Gold Glove Award scoring (which it is not), with no current leaders, the Cardinals would be shut out.
It will be interesting to see how these scores change during the second half, with updates likely coming roughly each month. The final SDIs are not published until after the Gold Glove Award winners are disclosed in November.
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