The Cardinals are making a splash in All-Star Week, and Riley O’Brien is right in the middle of it.
Jordan Walker already gave St. Louis a headline Monday night by beating Kyle Schwarber to win the Home Run Derby, becoming the first Cardinals player to take that title. Walker will also be in his first All-Star Game, alongside fellow Cardinals representatives Iván Herrera and O’Brien, both of whom earned their first career All-Star selections this season.
O’Brien’s path to this moment has been anything but straightforward. St.
Louis picked him up from the Seattle Mariners in a 2023 trade for cash considerations, when the right-hander had only two big league appearances to his name. He opened the 2024 season on the Cardinals’ roster, struggled, and was sent back to Triple-A.
But the veteran reliever found his footing last season and turned in 42 appearances for St. Louis, finishing with a 2.06 ERA. That rebound convinced the Cardinals to hand him the closer’s job this year, and he has run with it.
Through 39 appearances this season, O’Brien has allowed an earned run in just eight of them, while piling up 24 saves and earning an All-Star nod. He started the year with 13 straight outings without giving up an earned run, then worked through a rough stretch before settling back in.
“Start of the season, it felt like I was lights out," O'Brien said on Monday, per MLB.com's Brenden Schaeffer. "And then, went through a period of time where it felt like I couldn’t go out there without giving up a run.
But yeah, it feels good to come back -- I knew that wasn’t going to last forever. I felt like what I did at the beginning of the year was more the version of myself and the rough patch was just something I was going to get through rather than the other way around.
“The more I kept throwing in the ninth inning, late innings in games, I just felt more comfortable. Just settling into the role, knowing that the ninth inning is mine -- just all the prep and the mental preparation, too -- I think it’s just being comfortable in that role now.”
That comfort has shown up in the results. O’Brien has strung together seven straight scoreless outings heading into All-Star Week, and his steady work at the back end has helped keep the Cardinals in the playoff chase.
In Other News...
Cardinals May Have Just Changed Their Future With This Draft
The Cardinals walked away from the 2026 MLB Draft with a class that has already drawn rave reviews, and it is easy to see why. St. Louis made 24 selections, leaned on the extra capital it picked up through competitive balance rounds and trades, and came away with a group that included six players ranked in the pre-draft top 100.
Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline went so far as to rank the Cardinals class as the best in the league, which only adds to the sense that this could be a pivotal haul for the organization. Now the attention shifts from draft-room praise to the more delicate part of the process, with signing decisions due by the July 27 deadline and at least one notable name already heading back to college. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans Had To Love How This Derby Star Was Sent Home
Junior Caminero came into the 2026 Home Run Derby with the kind of power that makes any lineup stop and stare, and he showed it right away. After launching 12 homers in the first round to move on, the young slugger added another layer to his growing reputation as one of the games premier power bats, the same player who has already put up 51 home runs in the regular season and keeps looking like a future Derby fixture.
For Cardinals fans, the appeal was obvious once the bracket tightened and the field got smaller. Caminero was in position to chase a little history as the night wore on, but the matchup that ended his run delivered the sort of outcome St. Louis supporters could appreciate even without a Cardinals bat in the box. The final round of his night came down to a swing count that left just enough room for the home crowd to enjoy the result and wonder how far this Derby star might have gone with one more hot stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans Need To See How Fast This Unique Arm Is Rising
Jurrangelo Cijntjes rise has become one of the more intriguing pitching developments in the Cardinals system, and the latest step only adds to the buzz. The switch-pitcher was recently promoted to Triple-A Memphis, putting him alongside a growing group of young arms who are starting to look closer to major league help than long-term projects. Acquired from the Mariners in the Brendan Donovan trade this offseason, Cijntje has already made himself hard to ignore because of the simple fact that he brings a rare weapon to the mound.
What has made the move even more notable is the way he has begun to settle in on the field. In two July starts, Cijntje allowed two runs while striking out 17 over 12 innings, a strong stretch that stands out even with a season ERA of 5.04. He has mostly worked right-handed, with only brief left-handed usage in games, but that unusual profile is part of what makes his climb so compelling for a Cardinals organization that is watching its Memphis rotation with real interest. [Read more 🡒]