Cardinals Have One Of Baseball's Biggest 2025 Breakout Stars

When the Major League Baseball All-Star Game gets here in July, the St. Louis Cardinals should be well-represented.

The Cardinals are 33-26 on the season so far and have been one of the most surprising teams in baseball. St. Louis has had plenty of guys shine this year, but the guy who has stood out the most arguably is Brendan Donovan.

The 28-year-old has played in 56 games so far this season and is slashing .323/.383/.461 with four home runs, 24 RBIs, three stolen bases, 18 doubles, 31 runs, and a league-leading 70 base hits. The Cardinals entered the season with significantly more questions than answers. Donovan has stepped up when the team has needed him the most.

Unsurprisingly, there's already been a lot of buzz about why he should represent the Cardinals in the All-Star Game this summer. The Athletic's Grant Brisbee is the latest to push for Donovan earning an All-Star nod.

The Athletic gave their latest power rankings and had the Cardinals tied for No. 11 and specifically said Donovan should be an All-Star.

"Record: 33-26," Brisbee said. "Last Power Ranking: 12. Make him an All-Star: UTIL Brendan Donovan. Some writers never learned the difference between Tommy Edman, Nolan Gorman and Brendan Donovan. There’s no sense naming names*, even though it’s lazy to conflate every multi-positional Cardinals infielder with a name that ends with -an. When the Cardinals call up Paulie Dillman, Brody Corklan and/or Stephen Manovan, these writers will get even lazier and assume they’re all similar players, too. Well, maybe they are, and maybe they aren’t. Do some research.

"It’s clearer now, though. Edman is the one on the Dodgers. Gorman is the struggling youngster. Donovan is the All-Star. He’s the Steven Kwan of middle infielders, and if you’re thinking his batting average is inflated, check out his xBA (expected batting average) on Baseball Savant. The average is right where he should be, and it’s just one of the reasons he’d be a worthy All-Star."

Brisbee isn't wrong. Donovan absolutely should get rewarded for his play so far this season.