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It took manager Oliver Marmol four words to get a grip on how prominent defense must be for this year’s Cardinals to remain competitive when the roster has so little margin for errors.

“It has to be,� he said.

Through the first two games of the regular season, both victories against Minnesota, the Cardinals have displayed so much of the team they want to be this season. They’ve received sturdy starting pitching and mixed in both assertive and opportunistic hitting. In Saturday’s 5-1 win against the Twins, four different Cardinals had two hits, Lars Nootbaar had his second pair of two-out RBIs in as many games, and Victor Scott II stole two bases. The drumbeat of offense the Cardinals had through the first 18 innings of 2025 is certain to lose its rhythm as lineups ebb and flow and grow cold inevitably at times. Pitching will encounter turbulence.

What the Cardinals have shown that they can cling to as a constant — that's the power of glove.

“I think our defense is underrated,� third baseman Nolan Arenado said.

By the time Michael Siani came down with a ball in the ninth inning Saturday that would have been a home run in three big-league ballparks, almost every position on the field had a standout play in the first two games of the opening homestand. Nootbaar made a lunging catch on a liner in the second inning to end Erick Fedde’s lone traffic jam. Masyn Winn dove to his left in the third inning to start a double play that erased the baserunner permitted by Fedde’s error.

Victor Scott II raced into the right-center gap to steal extra bases with a leaping catch on opening day, and his defensive replacement in center on Saturday, Siani went deep into the left-center gap for a catch at the wall.

“Pretty cool defense,� Scott said. “It’s a lockdown defense. It’s a lot of moving parts out there, especially late in games. It’s unbelievable just knowing, especially in the outfield, no ball drops. It’s lockdown. We’ve got each other’s back. We know what each other’s strengths are. And that is the kind of attack that has been showcased so far.�

All spring, new coach Jon Jay and his pupils, the outfielders, stressed the importance of being “dialed-in� for every pitch. Marmol would ask Nootbaar each day for a rating on how many pitches he was focused on, and there were days that Nootbaar gave himself a low score. The purpose of the discussion was to improve each outfielders initial jump. Nootbaar and Scott both worked on putting their head down and charging toward where the ball was going to be before looking up to make eye contact with it.

On the catch Thursday that is what Scott did, and the manager allowed for the possibility that a year ago Scott doesn’t cover that much ground to make the catch — or has to dive, not leap to do so. Nootbaar’s first step in on the liner Saturday made that snag possible.

“There is a focus and attention to detail that is coming into play that looks really good,� Marmol said. “Defense has just been phenomenal.�

In the 20th season of calling Busch Stadium III home, the Cardinals have ample data about how the ballpark caters to pitchers and places a premium on outfield defense. In 2023, the Cardinals felt poor outfield defense contributed to their pitching issues — because misplays in the outfield became extra bases and extra bases became runs. The Cardinals tend to be better when they lean into defense, and they’ve favored acquiring pitchers who keep the defense hopping.

Before Saturday’s game, Marmol described Fedde as “our style of guys, right?� Freed at the trade deadline from a sunk season with the White Sox, Fedde benefited immediately last year from a bigger ballpark and a better defense. He pitched into Saturday. The right-hander needed only 73 pitches to complete six innings for a quality start. Sixteen of his 18 outs came with the help of a fielder.

In the second inning, Winn made a basket catch on a popup with his back to home plate. Two batters later, Nootbaar had the sliding catch on a sinking liner. In the third, Winn dove to start the double play. In the fifth, novice first baseman Willson Contreras dove to his left to snare a grounder and then trot to first for the final out.

“Any time you go after (a hitter) with no fear knowing the guys behind you are great, it’s a boost,� Fedde said. “I’m always chasing weak contact or swing and miss. If I can chase weak contact but still know I can be in the zone — everyone is going to give up a hard-hit ball. It’s inevitable. I know those guys are going to pick me up even then.�

The Cardinals have finished their first two games with a different center fielder and different catcher than they started, and that will be a practice for much of the season.

Ivan Herrera had the tiebreaking RBI single and a double, and then he yielded the catcher position to Pedro Pages for the ninth inning. On Thursday, Pages caught closer Ryan Helsley’s scoreless ninth in part because the Twins had several swift baserunners coming up, and the Cardinals wanted Pages’ arm behind the plate to patrol attempted thefts. Similarly in center where Siani has closed out each game. Siani’s advanced metrics in 2024 were strong enough to merit consideration for a Gold Glove Award, and only an injury likely kept him from being a finalist. The Cardinals believe he is one of the top center fielders in the majors, and that is why Scott moves to right in later innings to increase the range of the outfield.

Range like Siani needed to reach the line drive that left Carlos Correa’s bat 101.8 mph and had an expected batting average of .700. The ball traveled 393 feet toward one of the deepest facets of the Busch Stadium wall — and that’s where Siani met it.

“The ball is going to find you when you get thrown in there,� Nootbaar said. “He’s on our team for a lot of reasons. Making a play at the wall in the eighth or ninth inning — that’s a pretty big reason why, too.�

Correa hit the groundball Thursday that Brendan Donovan smothered for a pivotal out that helped Sonny Gray slip free of trouble. Donovan’s play and Scott’s catch both robbed runs from the Twins in a game the Cardinals won by two, 5-3.

In 2024, the Cardinals ranked in the top half of the majors in Defensive Runs Saved, according to The Fielding Bible. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were dragged back by minus-11 in right field and minus-12 from the battery positions. A plus-12 at shortstop, where Fielding Bible award-winner Winn played, buoyed the team to a plus-29 overall. If the first two games of the regular season were opportunities to highlight defense, the next two will reveal the necessity of it. In the final game against the Twins, groundball-getter Andre Pallante starts, and on Monday, when the Angels visit, contact-inviting Miles Mikolas starts. The defense will be busy, by design.

“It’s what we’re going to have to do,� Marmol said. “The staff finds it important; the guys find it important. More than that it’s just playing the game hard. I think we’re seeing that.�