The Cardinals’ late-season surge has turned a deadline sell-off into something much more interesting. St. Louis dealt away several key pieces, including Dustin May and JoJo Romero to the Milwaukee Brewers and Lars Nootbaar to the Arizona Diamondbacks, then kept winning anyway.
That run has come with a clear payoff for the organization’s younger players. Jordan Walker and JJ Wetherholt have already used their chances to strengthen their standing in the club’s future, and Joshua Báez just delivered the kind of debut weekend a team can dream on.
Báez, St. Louis’ No. 3 prospect, was called up at a time that lets him keep rookie status while getting valuable big-league reps.
The 23-year-old wasted no time making history, launching home runs in each of his first three career plate appearances. That surge helped push the Cardinals to an 8-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
His Sunday was quieter in the Cardinals’ 11-4 victory over the Cubs, but the message had already been sent. Báez has given St. Louis another power option and a fresh look at what he can bring to the lineup down the stretch.
The bigger picture has been just as striking. Since the trade deadline, the Cardinals have beaten some of the league’s best clubs, won nine of their last 13 games and taken four straight series from the New York Yankees, Colorado Rockies, Philadelphia Phillies and Cubs. That’s a strong stretch by any measure, especially against that kind of competition.
Even with the momentum, St. Louis still has work to do in the standings. The Cardinals remain outside the playoff field, though they are less than four games back of the final wild-card spot.
And if the postseason doesn’t happen, this year still carries real value for the Cardinals. They’ve stayed in the race after moving star players, given important development time to young talent, and added another promising name in Báez to a farm system that already looks loaded.
In Other News...
Cardinals Prospect Surge Is Turning One National Debate Around
The Cardinals farm system has quietly become one of the most encouraging parts of the organizations outlook, and the latest national rankings only reinforced that momentum. MLB Pipeline placed St. Louis fourth heading into the 2026 season, keeping the club in the same spot even after the organization added talent through trades and the draft, while Baseball America pushed the Cardinals all the way up to second in baseball.
Those numbers matter because they reflect more than just a few shiny names at the top of the list. They point to a system with real depth and a wave of prospects that has changed how the Cardinals are being viewed nationally, even if different outlets still disagree on exactly where the farm belongs in the pecking order. [Read more 🡒]
Joshua Baez Could Give The Cardinals A Dangerous New Lineup Option
Joshua Baezs first taste of the majors came with a little more responsibility than most debuts. In a game against the Cincinnati Reds, the Cardinals gave him a look at the top of the order, another sign that the organization sees more than just raw talent in the 22-year-old. Baez has long stood out in the minors for his rare blend of power and speed, the kind of tools that can change the shape of a lineup if they translate cleanly to St. Louis.
Oliver Marmol has already shown a willingness to use Baez in the leadoff role when JJ Wetherholt is not available, which hints at how the Cardinals may want to deploy him as he settles in. Wetherholt is still expected to hold down that spot most of the time, but Baezs upside is obvious enough to make the arrangement worth watching. If his bat begins to catch up to his athleticism, the Cardinals could have a very different kind of table-setter waiting in the wings. [Read more 🡒]