Inside The Cardinals

State Of Cardinals: Where Things Stand With 3 Games Left

The St. Louis Cardinals have a busy few days ahead...
Patrick McAvoy|
Sep 15, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) fields a ground ball hit by Cincinnati Reds third baseman Santiago Espinal (not pictured) in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
Sep 15, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) fields a ground ball hit by Cincinnati Reds third baseman Santiago Espinal (not pictured) in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have just three games left in the regular season before a long offseason led by Chaim Bloom after he takes over as the Cardinals' president of baseball operations.

It's been a wild end to the season with the Cardinals showing some life late in the season, but too little to actually land a playoff spot. The Cardinals are going to finish just on the outside looking in on the postseason race. Right now, the Cardinals have a 78-81 record heading into a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs. If the Cardinals can sweep the series, they would finish with an 81-81 record, which would be very impressive with all of the turmoil of the season. All in all, the Cardinals will at least finish close to .500.

With that being said, here is the latest snapshot of where things stand heading into the final series of the season.

The St. Louis Cardinals have just three games left

St. Louis Cardinals hat
Sep 5, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of the hat and glove of St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Nolan Gorman (not pictured) before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Record: 78-81
NL Central Standings: Fourth place in the National League Central (18 games back)
NL Wild Card Standings: Outside looking in. (4 1/2 games back)
MVP: Masyn Winn. Last time we did this exercise, Winn was the Most Valuable Player for the team. Since then, he has gone down with a season-ending knee injury, but there's still a real argument that he has been the MVP of this team in 2025. He very likely will win at least a Gold Glove for his work this season and looks like the team's clear building block. Someone like Brendan Donovan may fit the "MVP" description a little closer, but what Winn did this year was impressive.
Biggest Surprise: Iván Herrera. Last time we did this exercise, Alec Burleson was the answer. But, it's hard to look past how solid of a season Herrera has had. He's hitting just under .290 right now at .286 and has 19 home runs and 66 RBIs in 104 games played. He's the real deal.

It's been a roller coaster of a season, and now there's just three games left.

More MLB: Revisiting Nolan Arenado’s 1st Trade List With Cardinals In Flux

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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