Coming into the 2026 season, not much was expected from the St. Louis Cardinals. Nobody would have been surprised if they lost 90 games this year, as they were fully diving into their rebuild.
However, they have come out as one of the biggest surprises this year. The youth movement is looking more like seasoned vets with their level of production this year.
Jordan Walker is leading the way on offense, hitting .288/.342/.511 with a career-high 18 home runs and 58 runs batted in, but he’s not the only one. JJ Whetherholt is doing well, and so are Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson. Pitching-wise, the stable of arms has done enough to keep this team above .500, with Andre Pallante leading the team in wins, Michael McGreevy leading the team in ERA, and Matthew Liberatore leading the team in strikeouts.
MORE: Cardinals’ losing week pushes them out of the top 10 in latest power rankings
Cardinals’ fans will be thrilled with a stunning midpoint grade
Going into Wednesday’s matchups, the Cardinals are in the thick of things in the National League Central. They are 7.5 games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
This is far better than almost anyone has expected, and Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly has given this team one of only two A+ grades in his latest midpoint summary.
“Prior to the season, the rebuilding Cardinals seemed likely to lose 90-plus games, if not more. Instead, they find themselves in the playoff hunt at the midway point of the campaign… We’ll see whether the RedBirds have staying power in the postseason race this year, but they are ahead of schedule under president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who you know will continue to identify and acquire talent.”
Fans have to feel good about where the team currently sits. Even if they start to falter during the second half, things are looking up for St. Louis after a few lackluster seasons.