The Cardinals’ rotation has given the front office a little bit of everything in 2026: a breakout, a rebound, a collapse, and one trade that may end up mattering far more than the innings themselves.
St. Louis is still 7 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot, with its elimination number sitting at four and 11 games left. The postseason drought that has lingered since 2022 will stretch on, and while this first year of the Chaim Bloom rebuild has outpaced the modest expectations that came with it, the starting staff remains one of the clearest places for more growth.
Kyle Leahy has been one of the best surprises in that group. After beginning the year with a rough stretch in his first few outings, he settled in and now leads the staff with a 3.33 ERA in 28 starts. The move from the bullpen into the rotation has gone about as smoothly as the Cardinals could have asked.
Andre Pallante has delivered a sharp turnaround of his own. He finished 2025 with a 5.31 ERA in 31 starts, but this season has looked nothing like that version of him. Through 26 starts, he’s sitting on a 3.45 ERA, a strong bounce-back and one of the better stories on the staff.
Sonny Gray has been the most uneven of the regular starters. He was outstanding early, posting a 2.92 ERA after 19 starts in mid-July, but his last 10 outings have dragged that down hard, with a 5.71 ERA over that span. Even so, his season line still stands as a clear step forward from last year: 29 starts, a 3.83 ERA, and 160 innings pitched, compared with a 4.42 ERA in 95 2/3 innings across 17 major league appearances in 2025.
Matthew Liberatore, meanwhile, has had the roughest season of the bunch. He opened the year as the Cardinals’ Opening Day starter, but a few months later he owns a 5.53 ERA in 29 starts. That’s been a brutal turn for a pitcher who was supposed to anchor more of the staff’s early-season stability.
Michael McGreevy has shown enough to count as another encouraging piece, even if the finish has cooled. He has made 29 starts and owns a 3.83 ERA in 160 innings, a major improvement from last year’s 4.42 ERA in 95 2/3 innings over 17 appearances. He was rolling through the first half of the season, carrying a 2.92 ERA after 19 starts in mid-July, but his last 10 starts have produced a 5.71 ERA and kept him from reaching the top tier.
Michael Mathews has only made seven big league starts, but the early signs are solid. He has a 3.62 ERA across 37 1/3 innings, and that number is mostly weighed down by one rough outing on Aug. 22, when he allowed seven runs in five innings. In every other start, he has held opponents to two runs or fewer.
Then there’s Dustin May, whose impact in St. Louis goes well beyond the mound.
He made 21 starts and posted a 4.38 ERA in 109 innings, which was useful enough on its own. But the real payoff came after he was dealt with JoJo Romero to the Milwaukee Brewers for No. 4 overall prospect Alexander Frias and No. 11 prospect Josiah Ragsdale.
Frias, 18, has played at Class-A Palm Beach and has 10 homers, 73 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in 86 total games this season. Ragsdale, 22, has put together a loud minor league line with 24 homers, 65 RBIs and 37 stolen bases in 116 games, and he could end up in the Cardinals’ center field as soon as 2027 or 2028.
May did his job for St. Louis, but the prospect return may be the part that sticks.
In Other News...
Cardinals Could Finally Have A Shot At The Frontline Arm They Need
Spencer Strider has become the kind of name that naturally pops up when teams start searching for a rotation lift. The Braves right-hander has been slowed by injuries in recent seasons, which has changed the conversation around him from frontline ace to possible buy-low trade target, and that alone makes him one of the more intriguing arms on the offseason market for a club like the Cardinals.
St. Louis has spent plenty of time looking for the kind of pitcher who can change the shape of a staff, and Striders availability would fit that search. Atlanta reportedly explored moving him to Texas for Jacob deGrom at the trade deadline before deGrom used his no-trade clause to stop it, which only adds to the sense that Strider could be in play if the Braves are willing to listen. For the Cardinals, the appeal is obvious, even if the real question is whether they can put together the kind of deal that gets them into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Leo Bernal Is Making One Cardinals Regret Feel Even Bigger
Leo Bernals first few weeks in the big leagues have done more than introduce the Cardinals to a promising young catcher. Since his promotion on Sept. 1, he has given St. Louis immediate production on both sides of the ball, looking far more settled than a player making his first leap to the majors. The early returns have been strong enough to turn his arrival into one of the more encouraging developments of the late season, and his impact has already shown up in the record book.
For the Cardinals, the more interesting part is what might have been if Bernal had arrived sooner. The clubs playoff chase could have looked different with that kind of energy behind the plate and in the lineup earlier in the stretch run, especially given how quickly he has translated his tools to the majors. Even now, the larger question hangs over the organization: not whether Bernal belongs, but how much more value he could have provided if the call had come before September. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Walker Is Being Overlooked In One Cardinals Debate That Matters
Jordan Walkers 2026 season has quietly become one of the more compelling rebound stories on the Cardinals roster. After struggling in his first few big league seasons, he has made enough of a leap this year to enter the conversation for National League Comeback Player of the Year, a field that already includes familiar names such as Sandy Alcantara, Michael Harris II and Oneil Cruz. Even so, Walker is not getting much love from odds sites, which says plenty about how quickly his turnaround has been absorbed into the background.
The overlook makes some sense on the surface, because Walker was never quite treated like a full-fledged comeback case in the first place. He had already established himself to a degree, and he did not have the kind of major injury return story that tends to drive these awards. Still, the Cardinals have watched him put together a much better season than the one that came before it, and if this debate is supposed to reward meaningful recovery and renewed production, Walker belongs in it whether the market has noticed or not. [Read more 🡒]