The St. Louis Cardinals continue their roller coaster season but they finally look to be settling in a lane. Unfortunately, that means fighting for .500, which honestly would be a welcomed outcome after the expectations coming into this season. There were times where they made us believe but plenty more where they reminded us about the transition period we did not want to accept.
The Cardinals no longer have to straddle the line of buyer and seller as they accomplished the bare minimum at this year’s deadline and now they have to decide how to dish out playing time to find their future building blocks. Prior to the trade deadline, the team had plenty of different moments that made fans, myself included, believe that the Devil Magic would return and they would sneak into the playoffs. Along with those memories, though, comes the bad side of the season. The games that they should have won, the games where the offense hit and the pitching faltered or vice versa, and the decisions we continue to look back at and wonder how this could have been different. Since the Cardinals have officially punted on the playoffs for this year, I wanted to take a look back down memory lane to remember the good times while not looking past the bad. Here are the two best stretches of the season that made us believe followed by the sobering reality of the bad stretch that put us where we are today.
Also, happy birthday to my mom and good vibes to my dad going in for a hip replacement this morning.
BEST STRETCH: April 30 – May 28 (20-7)
After a loss to the Cincinnati Reds on April 28, the Cardinals were 12-17, just swept by the New York Mets and lost a series to the Atlanta Braves after winning two series against potential playoff contenders the week before. That loss to the Reds was the Cardinals second in a row after failing to sweep the Brewers as they offense went silent. Then came the rain. After Tuesday washed out the second game of the series, the Cardinals swept the doubleheader to kick off what would become a great start to the month of May.
Another doubleheader would take place over the weekend and the Cardinals took both against the New York Mets, which kicked off a nine-game winning streak as the Cardinals won eight series in a row against the Brewers, Reds, Mets, they swept the Pirates and Nationals, took the series against the Phillies with another doubleheader, before defeating the Royals in Kansas City. What a fun time that was. The Cardinals would drop two out of three to the Tigers in the next series but then got back to their series-winning ways against the Diamondbacks and Orioles. From April 28 to May 28, the Cardinals went 20-7, won ten of eleven series, and were three games behind the Cubs for the division lead while sitting in possession of the final Wild Card spot.
During that stretch, the offense put up a .262 batting average (current MLB average is .246) and were fourth in the league in runs, RBI and on-base percentage, while sitting fifth in slugging percentage. Their starting pitchers were 11-4 with a 3.25 ERA and allowed the third-fewest walks per game. By fWAR, the Cardinals bullpen was the best in the National League and second in baseball behind the Minnesota Twins. The relief corps’ 2.90 FIP was also best in the NL.
The impending June schedule was intimidating but the Cardinals looked to be on the right path.
WORST STRETCH: June 25 – July 23 (8-15)
After a game two victory against the Chicago Cubs brought the Cardinals within 2.5 games of the division, winning either of the next two would give St. Louis their third straight series win. However, the third game would begin a lengthy run of mediocre or worse baseball as this coincided with Erick Fedde’s demise. Fedde entered the game against the Cubs with a 3.54 ERA and that would be the last time that number was below four (and quickly five) for the entirety of the season thanks to a seven run blowup. The next game saw the Cardinals shutout for the second day in a row.
We would get one more tease after a the Cardinals swept the Guardians, but then things unraveled over the next two weeks. I could have started this “worst stretch” here, but I wanted to make sure I included Fedde’s downfall and the bounce back sweep somewhere in here. Now, on to Pittsburgh for what should have been a launching pad into the top of the division even though the Pirates were playing good ball at that point. However, the Cardinals ran into the apparent buzzsaw rotation that included Andrew Heaney, Paul Skenes, and Mitch Keller and were shutout for the entirety of the series. That gut punch came at a bad time as it led to the first away series of the year against the division-leading Cubs.
That Cubs series ended with another uncompetitive Fedde start which then left the Cardinals limping into the All-Star break now 6.5 games behind the in the Central and one game out of the Wild Card. Then, there was the true spiral. The Cardinals were swept in three games by the teetering Diamondbacks before what was supposed to be a get right series in Colorado. Woof. The Rockies took two out of three to all but shut the door on the Cardinals’ 2025 season as the Trade Deadline neared.
In that 23 game stretch, the hitters struggled with a .238 average and popped just 19 homers while scoring the second-fewest runs in all of baseball. If the offense was bad, the starting pitching was putrid. Starters averaged 4.9 innings per start and put up a disgusting 7.03 ERA, over a half point worse than the closest team and over four points above the major league leader. They put up just a 6.63 K/9 and allowed 2.08 HR/9. As a group, the starting pitchers total a -0.3 fWAR.
Mercifully, this stretch did bring an end to Fedde’s time in the organization and allowed John Mozeliak to finally choose a direction for the deadline. Even though it was a bare minimum selloff that involved only expiring contracts, the decision was made to punt on this season and look towards an uncertain future.
No matter how this season ends, it would be inaccurate to say it wasn’t without some fun times. We got to jump on the Yohel Pozo wagon, watch Sonny Gray endlessly tuck in his jersey while throwing one of the best games in baseball history. We also got to see Eugenio Suarez torch Cardinal pitching four homers in a three-game span and suffer through 12 shutouts offensively. But here we are, every day. Watching, listening, reading, writing, talking, and believing for some reason in the St. Louis Cardinals.