St. Louis Cardinals Look Ahead To An Exciting 2026 Season
On Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays were defeated by none other than the St Louis Cardinals. After a decade of struggling to win, a low attendance, and a really bad year in 2025, things seem to finally be looking up for the Cardinals.
Memory Lane With Mike Mayers
Since 2016, the Cardinals have struggled. How can such a proud franchise be bad for so long? Well, for starters, let’s look at Relief Pitcher Mike Mayers. His major league debut in 2016 is what some might refer to as a nightmare. It is actually what some would call one of the absolute worst debuts in MLB history. In over 90 years, Mayers was the first pitcher to allow six first-inning runs in his debut. After only 4 outs, he was removed from the game.
Despite his rough start, he later was known as a somewhat decent reliever. However, in Nov. 2019, Mayers left the Cardinals to join the Los Angeles Angels. He was a fairly solid player until 2022, when he experienced a sudden decline in velocity and was unable to maintain the good work from previous seasons. But that’s another story.
A Risky Trade
The Cardinals seem to finally be seeing the light now that they are letting go of a few of their players and bringing in some new guys. One player who is no longer part of the Cardinals is Third Baseman Nolan Arenado.
Arenado is by no means a bad player. In fact, he is actually considered one of the best third basemen of his time. He’s been named an All-Star eight times, and he’s a pretty good power hitter. He is a player you want on your team. Even so, in January, the Cardinals bid the veteran adieu, and he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league pitcher Jack Martinez.
This may seem like a terrible move, but when you’ve gone 10 years of having no success and low attendance, you can’t afford to rely on the fact that you have big names anymore. Not if it means letting the team suffer.
However, Martinez is considered a pretty good pitcher, but he’s a new guy, and he has a bunch of growing to do. He’s not bad, but he’s still what you might call the Cardinals’ pet project in a sense.
Out With the Old, In With the New
In the last couple of years, the Cardinals have also let go of First Baseman Paul Goldschmidt who is now with the New York Yankees, Tommy Edman who is now with the Los Angeles Dodgers (though this year he’s on the injured list), veteran pitcher Sonny Gray who is now with the Boston Red Sox, and Erick Fedde who was traded to the Atlanta Braves after a terrible season in 2025.
Who are some of these new guys that the Cardinals are bringing in? Infielder JJ Wetherholt’s home run on Thursday was a huge deal. Wetherholt is known for some pretty good decision-making skills when it comes to his swing. I think he’s proved himself to be a great player, and he could do some great things for the Cardinals if he keeps up the good work and doesn’t lose his focus.
A New Era For the Cardinals
The Cardinals have done poorly in the past because of bad management, too much reliance on big names, and a lack of consistency when it comes to replacing them. But now that the Cardinals are finally opening themselves up to the idea of bringing in fresh new faces and working with new people, it seems to be really paying off.
This rebuilding phase seems to be going according to plan, and if players like Wetherholt can stay strong and healthy and keep at it, the future for the Cardinals is looking bright.
