Adam Wainwright wasn’t about to let a Barstool rant go unanswered.
After Brandon Walker of Barstool Sports took aim earlier this week at the Cardinals, their fans, and Busch Stadium following Jordan Walker’s Home Run Derby win, the longtime St. Louis ace stepped in Thursday to defend the fan base he spent 18 seasons pitching for.
“I played there for 18 years. Whatever you think in this Barstool world that you live in over there, you guys don't know the fanbase better than I do.
I don't care what you say,” Wainwright said. “Cardinal fans are not walking around saying 'we're the best fans in baseball.'
They got that label because they are the best fans in baseball.”
Wainwright’s case carries real weight because he lived it. He spent his entire career in St.
Louis, debuting in 2005 and making his final at-bat in 2023, while helping the organization through plenty of highs and lows. Few people have seen more of Cardinals baseball from the inside, and even fewer have spent that much time watching the crowd that fills Busch Stadium.
He also made clear what separates Cardinals fans from plenty of others around the league.
“You go to most stadiums and they're having a party,” Wainwright continued. “Cardinal fans are watching the game.”
That’s the heart of his defense. Wainwright pointed to the way St.
Louis crowds stay locked in, including the sellout postseason atmospheres he pitched in and the milestones he shared with Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols. Even when the team went through three straight years without reaching the postseason, he said the fan base never stopped caring once it got into the ballpark.
Wainwright also posted that he wanted to speak up because he had seen the reaction from Cardinals fans and felt compelled to add his own voice as someone who knows the organization well.
Whether Walker fires back remains to be seen, but Wainwright’s response landed with the kind of authority only a Cardinals legend can bring.
In Other News...
Cardinals Lose Another Young Prospect As Key Return Raises New Questions
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At the same time, the team also announced that infield prospect Christian Martin is no longer part of that picture after stepping away from professional baseball. For a Cardinals farm system that has already had to keep reworking its depth chart, the combination of a retirement and two activations creates both relief and uncertainty, especially with Peete now back in circulation and Reyes trying to reestablish himself after a long absence. The next stretch will say a lot about how quickly St. Louis can turn those returns into real momentum. [Read more 🡒]
Joshua Bez Just Turned Up The Pressure On The Cardinals
Joshua Bez wasted no time reminding the Cardinals why he has become one of the more intriguing names in the system. In his first Triple-A game after the All-Star break, the 2026 No. 3 prospect delivered another burst of power, pushing his season total to 29 home runs and putting him atop the International League leaderboard. For a player in his first run at this level, the production has been hard to ignore, especially with St. Louis still trying to keep itself in the Wild Card mix.
Bez has paired the pop with a .250 batting average, a .322 on-base percentage and a .900 OPS across 83 Triple-A games, a line that gives the Cardinals something to think about as the season moves deeper into July. The timing matters, too, because the organizations next steps at the trade deadline could shape how aggressive it wants to be with its young talent. Either way, Bez is making a strong case that his name belongs in the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
One Prospect Expert Just Threw Cold Water On The Cardinals Draft Buzz
The early buzz around the Cardinals 2026 draft class has not been unanimous, even as some evaluators came away impressed by the groups depth and by Trevor Condon as a headliner. Jim Callis and Kiley McDaniel were among those who liked what St. Louis did, but not every prospect voice is buying the optimism, and Keith Law offered a far cooler read on the class than the prevailing praise.
Laws view was that the Cardinals leaned more on quantity than quality, with a class he did not see as producing any clear steals. He was also less sold on Condon than some of the other national analysts, and his broader prospect notes carried a reminder that St. Louis still has real development questions to sort through, including the long-term outlooks for Quinn Mathews and Jurrangelo Cijntje. [Read more 🡒]