3 Biggest Mistakes for Cardinals to Learn From 2026 Season

The St. Louis Cardinals have a lot to think about ahead of the 2027 campaign.

Sep 2, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Joshua Baez (22) hits a 2 run RBI double during the tenth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While the St. Louis Cardinals are on the outside looking in on the 2026 Major League Baseball playoffs, they actually looked like a playoff team throughout the first half of the season.

St. Louis finished the season with a 77-85 record, one game behind the 2025 Cardinals. This is a team that flirted with being 10 games above .500 at points in the first half, though. On June 16, the Cardinals were 40-31 on the campaign. On July 5, the Cardinals were seven games above .500 at 47-40. They entered the All-Star break five games above .500 at 50-45. After that, the season took a turn for the worse. Plus, it didn't help in the standings that the Cardinals traded Lars Nootbaar, Dustin May and JoJo Romero away. In the long run, those deals will be good. But it just didn't help them get to the playoffs in 2026, which wasn't necessarily the goal all along.

Still, there were arguably three mistakes made during the 2026 season that the franchise should learn from heading into 2027.

Waiting To Promote Joshua Baez/Leo Bernal

Sep 1, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Joshua Baez (22) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Hindsight is 20-20. That's the case always, of course. But Baez and Bernal could've helped the club earlier than they were promoted. Baez made his big league debut on Aug. 15. Bernal's big league debut came on Sep. 1. With Baez specifically, it was talked about a lot around the time he was promoted that the timing was important in large part to preserve his rookie eligibility for the 2027 campaign. Bernal will also still be considered a rookie in 2027. If either were to win the Rookie of the Year Award, then the Cardinals would look like geniuses because they would get an extra draft pick.

Both Baez and Bernal showed a lot of promise after being promoted. Baez clubbed seven home runs, drove in 18 runs and slashed .230/.278/.510 with a .788 OPS in 29 games. Bernal slashed .284/.333/.474 with an .807 OPS, five home runs and 21 RBIs in 24 games played. At the end of the day, both were thriving down in the minors long before actually getting the call to the big leagues. The idea of waiting to promote makes sense from the standpoint of potentially getting a draft pick if either could win the Rookie of the Year Award. But that assumes that next year will be as good as this year. At the end of the day, either of these guys would've made St. Louis' lineup better. If the Cardinals gave them a shot earlier, who knows, maybe the Cardinals could've finished closer to .500.

Not Adding Enough Bullpen Help

Sep 24, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ryne Stanek (55) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Cardinals added a few bullpen pieces ahead of the 2026 season, like Ryne Stanek, Justin Bruihl and George Soriano, among others. But they didn't add enough. St. Louis' bullpen was its biggest weakness throughout the campaign. Then, dealing Romero away made things more difficult, of course.

Sticking With Matthew Liberatore In The Rotation All Season

Aug 19, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (32) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Tanner Pearson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Liberatore had a tough 2026 season, to say the least. He finished the campaign with a 5.23 ERA in 31 starts. There's no denying the fact that Liberatore has talent, but he wasn't able to consistently get it done in 2026. Arguably, he could've used a reset this season at some point. St. Louis sent Nolan Gorman and Victor Scott II down to the minors at one point, but the same didn't happen with Liberatore.

Quinn Mathews got a shot in the majors on Aug. 1 and looked good in the majors. Arguably, he also should've gotten a shot earlier as well and could've been the option to replace Liberatore.