After Nolan Arenado makes exit, Cardinals youth delivers in win over Brewers

Daniel Guerrero, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sep 21, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — Considering the “uncertainty” this upcoming winter may bring for a retooling Cardinals club, manager Oli Marmol wanted to ensure there’d be a moment Sunday at Busch Stadium for Nolan Arenado to receive recognition in what may have been his final home game as a Cardinal.

Originally scheduled off as a way to prepare his body for playing in the final week of the regular season, Arenado was a late addition to the Cardinals’ starting lineup in the home regular-season finale at Busch Stadium. The eight-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner trotted out to third base to begin the game alongside the rest of his Cardinals teammates in their 5-1 win over the Brewers.

But before Matthew Liberatore threw the first pitch against the Brewers, Marmol walked out from the dugout for a mound visit that huddled the infield and ended with Arenado leaving the game.

Arenado, a three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove award winner in five seasons in St. Louis, received applause from the announced crowd of 32,723 as he tipped his cap before walking down the steps of the dugout.

“It was a really nice gesture from him,” Arenado said. “I appreciate Oli. We’ve had a great relationship. We’ve been around each other for a long time. He felt it was the right thing. It’s coming toward the end. I appreciate it. It was really cool. In the moment, I was a little nervous about it because I wasn’t prepared for it, but obviously it was a really nice moment.”

Although Arenado is under contract through 2027, the Cardinals will look to trade the multi-time All-Star this winter. Arenado, 34, said he anticipates “probably not coming back” amid the Cardinals’ youth movement as he sees how his presence plays a role in those efforts.

“They’ve got to let some of these young guys grow and become players and see what they have, and there’s no doubt that I’m in the way of that. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but obviously I do believe change is coming as it should,” Arenado said.

Following Arenado’s exit, glimpses of the growing youth revealed themselves against Milwaukee to cap the likely final Cardinals performance at Busch Stadium in 2025.

The Cardinals, who began the day with a postseason elimination number sitting at three, were lifted to a 2-0 lead in their 5-1 win over Milwaukee when Ivan Herrera belted his 17th home run of the season.

One of the Cardinals’ offensive bright spots this season, Herrera improved to a .281 batting average and an .824 on-base plus slugging percentage on the season with 1 for 2 performance that included a walk. Of Herrera’s 17 homers this season, 10 have given the Cardinals a lead.

“I feel like my confidence when I’m hitting is super high,” Herrera said. “There were times before that, if there’s a good pitcher there, I felt overwhelmed. Like I had no chance of getting a hit today. … I’m swinging the bat and just not thinking about the bad things. You just go up there and think that I’m going to get hit every time.”

The lead provided by Herrera was added by three RBIs from Jose Fermin. Fermin drove in two runs on a double in the fourth inning and drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning. The lineup’s ability to produce five runs as they collected three hits and drew seven walks against the Brewers backed the one-run effort from a pitching staff led by five innings from Liberatore.

Liberatore struck out six batters, five of which came in the first three innings, to help him earn his eighth win of the season and flashed a fastball that touched 97.5 mph and averaged 94.7 mph.

Having dealt with dips in velocity earlier this year, Liberatore acknowledged that the velocity was a sign of where he felt with his body in the final days of the regular season.

“Plowing through that dead period there, where (velocity) was not where we wanted to be, it was hard for him to hold it,” Marmol said of Liberatore, whose start put him at 151 1/3 innings over 29 starts. “I’m glad we got to the other side of that. … You look at the overall workload compared to his previous seasons, we’re getting to that line where he’s done his job. Spun it well today, but the (velocity) was there. It was fun to see him compete, but he’s done a really nice job.”

Behind him, rookie Matt Svanson tossed two scoreless innings of relief, Ryan Fernandez notched his third hold of the season with a scoreless eighth inning that included three strikeouts, and Riley O’Brien completed a scoreless ninth inning.

The scoreless outings by Svanson and O’Brien lowered their ERAs to 2.05 and 1.97, respectively, as they continue to take on leverage innings for a Cardinals bullpen reshaped after veteran arms were dealt at this year’s trade deadline.

“Our bullpen has kind of been the diamond in the rough this year,” Liberatore said. “They’ve been lights out for us the entire season, and they’ve saved a lot of runs for us and closed out a lot of close ball games for us. Guys like (Svanson) and Riley stepping up and filling the roles that they have been nothing short of incredible.”

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