Who will stand out for St. Louis in 2026? Making Cards season picks

After watching his team edge the Astros, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon, manager Oliver Marmol said he really felt good about the 2026 Cardinals. He liked the way they competed during Spring Training and the club made it clear the style of play will not be waiting for the three-run homer.

The Cards are one of the youngest teams in the Majors. If they are going to win more than they lose, they have to pitch well, play great defense and play small ball in the batter’s box. St. Louis doesn’t have the power to wait for the three-run homer unless players like Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker provide the thump that’s needed.

“The Cardinals are clear on the style of play that we are looking to have this year, all year and not giving in to anything. I’m really confident in it,” Marmol said. “I think that’s why there is a lot of enthusiasm, knowing that they are going to be together for a while and this is the group that they need to learn how to win with.

“A lot of questions early in camp were around leadership as far as, who’s that leader? I don’t think you have to [have one]. Each person stepping into that next phase of leadership, for them, is important, but that room has done a nice job of speaking into that and talking through how they are going to hold themselves accountable when it comes to solid play. That’s the one thing I can guarantee is, there will be solid play that will be exciting to watch.”

What needs to go right?

With their current roster, the Cardinals must do the little things -- situational hitting, great defense and pitching -- to win games. They don’t have enough power to go after the three-run homer. Yes, they have Walker and Gorman, but they are coming off a disappointing 2025 season. Last year, the starting rotation went a combined 47-60 with a 4.67 ERA. It can’t get any worse than that. The young staff is led by left-hander Matthew Liberatore and there is a feeling that the walks will be down and the wins higher. For example, Liberatore issued two walks in 15 innings this spring. In his mind, it was two walks too many.

Great unknown

In 2022, Walker was the top prospect in the Cardinals’ organization. Four years later, the club is wondering whether he will ever reach his potential. The problem is, Walker has been inconsistent in the batter’s box and had a Spring Training to forget. However, he worked hard in the hitting lab at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium to correct his swing. Walker said the goal was to slow things down and be ready for any pitch coming to the plate. For Walker to be successful, he must spread the ball all over the field. As recently as Friday against the Mets, Walker may have found a solution to his problems. He decided to stop thinking too much at the plate and just hit the ball. We’ll see how that goes once the season starts.

Team MVP will be ...

Alec Burleson, who is coming off his best season with St. Louis. He had a slash line of .290/.343/.459 with 18 homers and 69 RBIs in 2025, earning the National League Silver Slugger Award for a utility player. Among qualified Major League left-handed hitters in ’25, he ranked fifth in batting average behind Xavier Edwards (.306), Freddie Freeman (.295), Josh Naylor (.295) and Luis Arraez (.292). Two things are certain: Burleson will be the everyday first baseman and he is confident in his swing. He believes one day he will be a slugger in The Show, hitting 30 homers and driving in 100 runs. It will happen this year. Yes, it was only Spring Training, but Burleson showed signs that he will be the leader of the offense. In 16 exhibition games, Burleson had a slash line of .316/.458/.421 with six RBIs.

Team Cy Young will be ...

Michael McGreevy. Yes, Liberatore is getting the Opening Day nod on Thursday against the Rays, but, starting on Saturday, look for McGreevy to have his best year to date. He will be unhittable against lefty batters, who went 55-for-173 (.318) with nine homers against him in 2025. He came up with a new slider and changeup to combat the lefties. During the exhibition season, they hit .194 against him. McGreevy is a perfectionist. He will be the first to tell you he didn’t like that his ERA was 4.42 in ‘25. There were too many blowup games, he felt. McGreevy still talks about the forgettable game he had against the Padres on July 27 in which he allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 9-2 loss.

Bold prediction

The Cardinals will win more than they lose. If one goes by what went on in Spring Training, the energy in the locker room and on the field was phenomenal. It helps having a winning record (17-9). The veterans brought in by St. Louis, like Ryne Stanek and Dustin May, seem to mesh with the young bucks.