The Cardinals came into 2026 with a clear message: this was supposed to be a reset year. Chaim Bloom took over as president of baseball operations and the organization spent the offseason moving out established names like Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to stock the farm system and lean into young talent. The plan looked pretty straightforward - take a step back now, wait a couple of years, and then think about contending again.
Instead, St. Louis has spent most of the season forcing a new conversation.
Nearly 130 games into the regular season, the Cardinals are 65-62 and hanging a few games from a wild-card spot. They were still sellers at the trade deadline, but that hasn’t slowed them down.
Since then, they’ve gone 10-5 and strung together five straight series wins. A roster that was supposed to be in transition has kept finding ways to win.
Alec Burleson, Kyle Leahy and JJ Wetherholt have all played meaningful roles in that push, but no one has changed the look of this team more than Jordan Walker.
Walker’s turnaround has been the kind of development that can alter how a rebuild feels. MLB.com’s Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru put the shift in stark terms on Wednesday:
"FanGraphs' ZiPS wasn't even willing to call Walker a replacement-level player, so brutal was his 2025 season (-1.3 fWAR)," MLB.com's Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru wrote on Wednesday. "His hot start naturally made us wonder how long it could reasonably go on. The answer was roughly two and a half months; his average dropped under .300 and his OPS under .900 in mid-June, and he hasn't really looked the same since.
"But that's proven quite informative. Since June 16 -- the day his OPS dipped below .900 -- Walker has hit .279/.344/.428 (.772) with a 21.9 K%. This comparative cold streak juxtaposed against his 2026 projections (.232/.296/.373, 27.2 K%) make it quite clear that we're looking at a different hitter this year, which casts the excellent overall numbers (.289/.347/.500, 25 HR, 88 RBIs) in an even more flattering light."
That’s a long way from where Walker stood just a year ago. He flashed big-time promise as a rookie in 2023, finishing with 16 home runs and 51 RBIs in 117 games.
The next two seasons were far rougher. Last year, the 24-year-old managed only six home runs and a .215 batting average.
This season, though, he’s looked like a different player. With the Cardinals leaning into development, Walker got another chance and has turned it into a breakout.
He ranks fourth in the league with 88 RBIs, has earned his first All-Star selection, and has become one of the biggest reasons St. Louis is still alive in the playoff chase.
Walker is the headliner, but he’s not the only surprise. The Cardinals have outperformed the expectations attached to a rebuilding club, and even after selling at the deadline, they look further along than anyone had planned.
In Other News...
Cardinals Top Prospect Is Creating A Catcher Debate Earlier Than Expected
Rainiel Rodriguez is starting to force a conversation the Cardinals probably hoped to put off for a while. The 19-year-old catcher has made real noise since moving up to Double-A Springfield, where his bat has taken another step forward and added some intrigue to a position that already has Ivan Herrera, Jimmy Crooks and Pedro Pages in the mix.
The organization is still not looking at Rodriguez as a big-league option this season, which is part of what makes the early progress so notable. Even so, the way he is handling tougher pitching has only sharpened the long view on his future, with his timetable now looking more like a potential 2027 arrival if this climb keeps going in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
Joshua Bez Hype Just Ran Into A Tough Cardinals Reality
Joshua Bez could not have asked for a louder introduction to the majors, launching three home runs in his first three at-bats in his MLB debut with the Cardinals. For a team always interested in finding impact talent, it was the kind of opening that can quickly turn a prospect into a must-watch name, especially for a player known for power and speed.
Since then, though, the game has offered the harder lesson that follows so many fast starts. Bez has gone 0-for-16 with six strikeouts, a reminder that the raw tools are still paired with real swing-and-miss risk, and the Cardinals will be watching closely to see how he handles the adjustment phase that has already arrived. [Read more 🡒]
Alec Burleson Is Giving The Cardinals More Than Just RBIs
Alec Burleson has already given the Cardinals plenty in the middle of the order, but his work at first base is starting to matter just as much. The traditional numbers have long painted him as a below-average defender, yet there is a different picture underneath the surface this season, one that suggests St. Louis may be getting more value out of him than his RBI total alone would indicate.
Receiving Outs Above Average has Burleson atop the majors for handling throws at first, a notable shift for a player whose reputation had been built almost entirely on his bat. For a Cardinals club looking for every edge it can find, that kind of steadying presence matters, because it means Burleson is helping the lineup and helping the infield in ways his box score line does not fully capture. [Read more 🡒]