The Cardinals are down to their final 12 games, and the latest stretch comes with a familiar opponent on deck. After taking a key series from the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis now turns back to the San Francisco Giants, who swept them last week.
This time, the matchup shifts to Busch Stadium, where the Cardinals will try to answer back during their final homestand of the 2026 season. The club may be inching closer to elimination from playoff contention, but there’s still baseball left to play - and three starters lined up to handle this series.
Quinn Mathews is set to open things up for St. Louis, and his last outing against San Francisco gave the Cardinals something to build on even in a loss.
The left-hander allowed just two runs over six innings and recorded the first quality start of his career. He took the hard-luck defeat, but the performance stood out, especially with the Giants’ pitcher-friendly park and Busch Stadium both playing to similar strengths.
For Mathews, the season has been mostly steady. Only one of his starts has truly unraveled, and that came in Philadelphia last month.
Since then, he has looked like a different pitcher. He enters the start at 1-3 with a 4.11 ERA.
Andre Pallante is also back in the mix after missing time with an elbow injury, and he remains one of the Cardinals’ most dependable starters this season. In his last turn in San Francisco, he worked into the sixth inning and had the win in hand after giving up just one run before the bullpen let it slip away in a 6-1 collapse.
Even with that brutal result, Pallante’s numbers have held up. He is 12-6 with a 3.45 ERA, and the profile remains the same: he may not work especially deep, but he keeps the ball on the ground and in the park.
Matthew Liberatore rounds out the group, though his season has been a struggle overall. He did pitch better against the White Sox, giving up two runs over 4 1/3 innings, but the full body of work still sits at 5-14 with a 5.53 ERA. That leaves the Cardinals in a tricky spot as they look ahead.
The rotation experiment with Liberatore may be nearing its finish, especially with other options beginning to emerge for 2027. Gordon Graceffo came in behind Liberatore in his last start and could again be used for length out of the bullpen.
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 🡒]
Cardinals Rotation Has One Rising Surprise And One Growing Concern
With 11 games left and a Wild Card chase that has all but slipped away, the Cardinals are spending the final stretch looking at the rotation with a colder eye than they did a month ago. The group has produced one rising surprise in the mix, but it has also left a growing concern that has shaped the way St. Louis has evaluated the rest of this season and the months ahead.
That backdrop makes the trade of Dustin May and JoJo Romero to the Milwaukee Brewers even more telling, because the return brought back two prospects the organization sees as worth tracking: Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale. Both players fit the kind of long-view thinking that takes over when the standings get grim, and their arrival adds a little intrigue to a system that is trying to balance short-term uncertainty with long-term hope. [Read more 🡒]