Cards-Cubs first '26 clash comes at a crucial time for both clubs

The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs own one of baseball’s best and most historic rivalries, which dates all the way back to 1885. When these two teams face off, the games tend to carry a little extra weight.

This weekend’s first clash of the 2026 season should be no different.

Ahead of Friday’s series opener at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals and Cubs are both above .500 and separated by just a half-game in the National League Wild Card race, with Chicago holding the edge for the third spot. While both teams are firming their positions in the playoff race as things stand, there’s no doubt that both are in the middle of their worst stretches of the season.

The Cubs on Thursday snapped a 10-game losing streak, one that sent them into a free fall in the NL standings. Their lineup saw its production slip drastically during that stretch, and their pitching staff is struggling to hold things together after myriad injuries have depleted their options.

The Cubs are still an uber-talented team, but the mood in Chicago feels far from that. They still have the pieces to be a dangerous club, but they really need a strong series in St. Louis to get things back on track and boost their momentum.

St. Louis has dropped seven of its last nine games after being swept by the Brewers in Milwaukee. The lineup has also gone ice cold, with the bottom half of the order consistently falling short lately and making it difficult for the Cards to put up runs at a high level. The rotation has also seen some poor outings lately that cost the club games before the bats really got going.

Unlike the Cubs, the Cardinals did not enter the season with high expectations. Their 29-25 start has come as a shock to the baseball world, and their recent skid could be a sign of them regressing back toward the mean. The Cardinals have full belief in themselves, and they will have every opportunity this weekend to showcase why their hot start wasn’t a fluke.

Series in May should not be defined as “must-wins,” but it’s safe to say that whoever does walk away from this series with two or three games in the win column is going to be feeling a lot better about their current state than they do right now, and the other may find their fans in an even bigger tailspin than they were before.

For the Cardinals, the key to the series seems to revolve around getting their offense to wake up against a struggling Cubs pitching staff, whether that be from the top four in the lineup leveling up or the bottom of the order providing enough of a spark to supplement what their core bats are already doing.

Utilityman Bryan Torres, who made his Major League debut for the Cardinals last Saturday in Cincinnati, has been off to a scorching-hot start at the plate (.960 OPS), and if he can keep up his production through this weekend series, that would go a long way toward winning the series. Jordan Walker has taken over at the plate again as of late (.944 OPS in the last 15 days), and a weekend against his teams arch-rival could allow him to step further into the spotlight.

• What Nootbaar's return will mean for Cards -- and for his future

Lars Nootbaar is not expected to return for this weekend's series, which is a pretty big bummer for a lineup that could really use a boost. The Cardinals have been missing Nootbaar’s production in a big way, and they’ll have to try to find some of that run creation from someone else.

Outside of the on-field play, this weekend will shine a massive light on the state of the Cardinals fanbase and whether or not fans are motivated to return to Busch Stadium. What attendance looks like for three weekend night games against their bitter rival at the beginning of the summer, on the heels of the “Tarps Off” movement, will say a lot about whether or not fans are buying back into the club after their exciting start to the year.

Any time the Cardinals and the Cubs face off, the games carry extra stakes and meaning. And this year is no different.