The First Base position is one of the weaker positions in the Cardinals system in terms of top end talent. This isn’t all that uncommon in the MLB though. 1B is usually used as a last resort when giving a prospect a position. While we may have gotten spoiled with Paul Goldschmidt for a few years, 1B defense is almost entirely an afterthought. At 1B, you are looking for 3 things, Power, Contact, and More Power.
It’s worth noting that very few prospects are penciled into exactly 1 position at this point. I will be including prospects on what I consider their current primary position, even if they may be expected to move off the position. With that being said, 1B is going to be much more empty than many other positions.
The MLB (40-Man) Level
Alec Burleson
Age: 25
Secondary Positions: DH, LF, RF
With Willson Contreras gone, Burleson is now the primary 1B in St. Louis. In fact, he’s the only one on the roster with Herrera and Donovan as the likely backups. Originally a 2020 2nd round draft pick, he debuted in the majors in 2022. He was a poor defender in the outfield when he played there, and it seems like 1B and DH will be his primary homes moving forward.
As a hitter, he hasn’t been flashy throughout his career but has increased his OPS every season. He slashed .290/.343/.459 with 18 Home Runs and 5 Stolen Bases. Like a few other players, he has a case for being the best hitter on the team. Although, his power is a bit lacking for a traditional first baseman.
Ideally he would play a slim majority of his games at DH, with most of the rest at 1B and a few OF games when needed. With the current roster construction though, with Herrera DHing often and no 1B backup, he’s going to need to play the field more often than not.
Top 30 Prospects
Blaze Jordan
Age: 23
Secondary Positions: 3B
Blaze Jordan, the return from last season’s Steven Matz trade, was drafted 1 round later than Burleson in 2020 by the Red Sox. He is our #20 Prospect according to MLB. He was originally a big power hitter with swing and miss concerns, but has reinvented himself as a better and more patient contact hitter at the expense of some of his functional power. He still has strong raw power that could still be tapped into, which is part of what makes him a ranked prospect. He is also a former 3B who has been trending more towards 1B recently.
His number plummeted after the trade though. He slashed just .198/.242/.366 in Memphis but had 19 Homers on the year. The Cardinals chose not to protect him from the Rule 5 draft this offseason, and no one else decided to take the chance on him either. It’s a bit telling that nobody wanted to put a ranked prospect who’s already in AAA on their major league roster. Since he’s not on the 40 man, I don’t expect him to make his MLB debut soon, or maybe even at all this season. A Burleson injury, or even a Donovan trade could complicate things, but for now Jordan should be the starting AAA 1B.
Jack Gurevitch
Age: 21
Secondary Positions: DH
Gurevitch played some 3B and LF in college but is almost exclusively a first baseman. He was a 3rd round pick this year out of San Diego. He’s a high ceiling prospect (#22 in the system) who shouldn’t be a defensive liability at 1B. He’s not the huge DH type you often think of at 1B and brings a more contact over power approach that is a bit uncommon for the position. So far he’s been known as a fastball killer with whiff problems, which will need to be worked on in the minors.
His short post-draft debut was dreadful as he hit just 3 extra base hits on route to a .181/.303/.253 slashline. The sample size was small, but really the only redeeming quality from his first professional stint was his walk rate. I have him repeating Single-A and would be a bit shocked if the Cardinals did something different. Although, at 21 already, he would ideally climb a level or 2 this season. With his prospect pedigree though, he should start at whatever level he’s at, unless he continues to struggle and needs time at the complex.
Deniel Ortiz
Age: 21
Secondary Positions: 3B, DH
Ortiz had been primarily a 3B before joining the Cardinals as a 16th rounder out of Walters State Community College in 2024. He played almost a near split between First and Third, so his long-term home is likely 1B. He was one of the few drafted hitters who did not play in the minors following the draft. He did not have much hype around him as a JuCo 16th round pick playing in his first pro season, but that changed quick once he hit the field. He is now the #25 prospect according
Deniel Ortiz slashed .285/.406/.446 in A and then was even better in High-A. He ended the season with a .300/.416/.462 slashline with 13 Home Runs. His bat profiles as a classic first baseman’s bat, with big power and hard hit balls. He shouldn’t be a liability in the field at 1B either. He does have a high whiff rate despite a relatively low chase rate which could cause him to struggle against higher-level stuff. The biggest surprise of Ortiz’s season to me, was that he stole 39 bases, getting caught 9 times. He’s not the slowest guy in the world, but speed is not a major part of his game, and yet he seems to be an elite baserunner at his speed. It’s possible better pitchers and catchers make up the difference and shut down Ortiz’s stealing but if he can carry that trait through the minor leagues it would give the Cardinals an option they haven’t really had for a while, at least at first base.
Cardinals Top 100
The 3 big 1B prospects all appear in national rankings, but there’s one other guy making some noise who made my top 100 Cardinals Prospects.
Josh Kross
Age: 22
Secondary Positions: C, DH
Kross was taken in the 6th round of the 2024 draft a couple rounds behind Ryan Campos. He was announced as a Catcher, leading to some discussion about how the two catchers would share time in Single-A following the draft. The answer was that they actually didn’t, as Kross played entirely 1B in 2024. In a full 2025 season, he played both 1B and C acting as a backup catcher while playing first on other days. He started the season red hot, but cooled off and ended the season with a slashline of .225/.298/.430 with 16 Homers across A & A+. He’s my #49 Prospect and I believe he should be getting a full workload, even if split between 1B and Catcher. I think he should return to High-A again in 2026, looking for a midseason promotion to Springfield.
The Rest
These guys unfortunately didn’t make my top 100 prospects. This (as well as the bottom of the top 100) is more organizational depth than true prospects, but you never know.
Trey Paige
Age: 25
Secondary Positions: 3B, DH, 2B
Paige is an older prospect who just missed my top 100 list. He was a 17th round pick in 2023 from Delaware State. He was awful in his short debut, but has been a solid hitter in his last 2 seasons. He played mostly third base until his promotion to AA where he played exclusively 1B. His bat is likely not strong enough to support him being a full-time 1st baseman which keeps him out of my prospect list. With that being said though, he’s a solid depth piece who slashed .238/.329/.370 in a surprisingly large role last year. I don’t have any prospects above him set to start in AA, so he might as well be the AA starter at 1B.
Johnfrank Salazar
Age: 22
Secondary Positions: 3B, 2B, C
Salazar joined the Cardinals prior to the 2024 season via the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. He was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox. He had times where he performed quite well, but had some long hitting droughts derail his first season with the team. His 2025 season was a disaster though, he started in A+ before demoting to A and again to the FCL. He finished the season in A, but now at age 22 is well behind the age curve. Primarily a corner infielder, the Cardinals used him at Catcher some at the complex. He’s probably a backup at any level this season but I’d put him back at A+ after he ended the season with some positive momentum.
Alejandro Loaiza
Age: 22
Secondary Positions: C, DH, 3B
Alejandro Loaiza is a 2021 signee who has spent 2 seasons in the DSL, and now 2 seasons in the FCL. He made a small stop in A in 2024 as well. He was primarily a catcher but shifted towards 1B, playing almost exclusively there this season. In 2025 he had his first season with an OPS over .600, with a .265/.342/.441 slashline. It could be the fact that moving off of Catcher has allowed him to focus on his hitting, or it could just be an older prospect hitting well in the FCL in a short sample size. Either way, I’m ready to move him up as the Palm Beach backup.
Christian Saez
Age: 18
Secondary Positions: DH
Saez is one of those prospects I believe in more than I probably should. He was given a big runway in 2024 and then seemingly got hurt in 2025. In neither season did he actually produce well with the bat. He slashed .225/.319/.375 this season as an older DSL guy, but only had 40 at bats this year. Assuming he’s healthy I would have him be the starter in the FCL to hopefully get a better evaluation.
2026 International Signings
There are no new international signings listed at 1B. Chances are one of the corner outfielders ends up playing the position for the DSL Cardinals. It could also be filled by committee.
Projected Depth Chart
This is more of a “what I would do” in terms of minor league assignments than an actual projection of what the organization will do.
| MLB | A. Burleson | |||
| AAA | B. Jordan | |||
| AA | T. Davis | |||
| A+ | J. Kross | J. Salazar | ||
| A | J. Gurevitch | A. Loaiza | ||
| FCL | C. Saez | |||
| DSL |
Final Takeaways
The depth at 1B isn’t bad per say, although there aren’t a lot of backup options. The biggest problem with the Cardinals 1B position is that they don’t have a true top prospect there, instead having 3 prospects ranked in the 20s. I also think the position as a whole is lacking the power that 1B is known for.
