Here are 5 questions that matter for Cards' stretch run

This story was excerpted from Will Leitch’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Cardinals have 23 games remaining this season, beginning tonight at Los Angeles (9 p.m. CT, Cardinals.TV), and they will be trying to win as many of those games as they can. But their record over this stretch won’t be their sole focus, nor should it be.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t still a ton to watch for in September, with implications beyond 2026. Here are five questions that still matter down the stretch in St. Louis:

1) Did they just call up their 2027 Opening Day catcher?

A foolproof way to stoke fan excitement is to call up a top prospect. The Cardinals did it a couple of weeks ago with their No. 3 prospect (MLB Pipeline's No. 59 overall), Joshua Báez, a move that had a rather immediate impact. On Tuesday, they did it again with their No. 7 prospect, Leo Bernal.

Bernal -- who went 1-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored in Tuesday night's 13-8 win over the Dodgers -- is considered one of the best defensive catchers in the Minor Leagues, but unlike a lot of defensive specialists, he can also swing the bat. The switch-hitter has 16 homers, nine steals and a .363 OBP in 101 games with Triple-A Memphis this year. He’s not the top hitting catching prospect in the Cardinals' organization -- that would be No. 1 prospect (No. 18 overall) Rainiel Rodriguez -- but he’s definitely the best defensively. Ideally, the Cardinals would love to have both Rodriguez and Bernal in the lineup of their next World Series contender, and this is an opportunity for Bernal to put himself atop, for now, a very crowded catching depth chart.

Even with Jimmy Crooks optioned back to Memphis on Monday, this likely means even less playing time for Pedro Pagés, but it might be even more pivotal for Iván Herrera. Herrera has been allowed to catch a game or two a week this year, but he has not improved much defensively and, most ominously, his power numbers are way down as well. He’ll likely be the DH the rest of the way, trying to get back to his previous form. If Bernal can make a splash and earn the respect of the pitching staff -- which everyone believes he will -- he could be the primary catcher in 2027 … and for quite a while after that.

2) Can Mathews stake a claim for next year’s rotation?

One of the nicer Cardinals moments of the last couple of weeks was when Crooks gave a postgame speech congratulating Quinn Mathews, his batterymate throughout multiple Minor League levels, on his first MLB win last Friday. It was without question Mathews’ best performance as a big leaguer, striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings against the Pirates. It was a sign of what Mathews has been able to do in the Minors and why the Cardinals have such high hopes for their No. 8 prospect.

It would seem that three pitchers have been secured spots in next year’s Cardinals rotation: Michael McGreevy, Kyle Leahy and (probably) Andre Pallante. If Mathews keeps pitching like he did on Friday, it would be difficult to take a fourth away from him.

3) Will Báez level out?

Since Báez hit home runs in his first three at-bats on that glorious day at Wrigley Field, the struggles many thought a man of his size might face in his first weeks in the Majors have arrived. He was 6-for-51 since those three homers, with 22 strikeouts and only three walks -- but he hit his sixth homer in Tuesday's win.

Strikeouts were an issue in the Minors and likely always will be. After all, he’s a huge guy. But Cardinals fans only need to remember Jordan Walker’s early fumbles to understand what sluggers like Báez have to deal with … and what can happen when they figure it out. It helps that when Báez does hit the ball, he hits it extremely hard: There is a lot of red on his Baseball Savant page. It will be a process. The next month is another adjustment, the next stepping stone to his future.

4) Can the Cardinals get some league leaders?

The Cardinals have not had a hitter lead the National League in RBIs since Albert Pujols had 118 in 2010, the only season in his career he ever led in RBIs; before him, no Cardinal had done it since Mark McGwire with 147 in 1999. (Before that, it was Joe Torre in 1971.)

But they have two candidates this year. Alec Burleson notched his 100th RBI on Sunday -- making him the first Cardinal to reach 100 since Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in 2022 -- and he is only five behind the Reds’ Sal Stewart for the NL lead. Meanwhile, Walker is third in the NL in RBIs, just one behind Burleson. They’ve got a chance.

And for as many struggles as All-Star closer Riley O'Brien has endured in the last couple of weeks, he still leads in the NL with 34 saves, two ahead of the Padres’ Mason Miller. The Cardinals have had a saves leader far more recently, when Ryan Helsley notched 49 just two years ago. (Before that, though, no Cardinal had led in saves since Jason Isringhausen’s 47 in 2004, and before that Lee Smith’s in 1991.) O’Brien will continue to get every opportunity.

5) Can they get over .500?

The Cardinals have not had two consecutive losing seasons in years a full schedule was played since 1958-59. (They were eight games under .500 when the season ended in 1994 and were 62-81 in 1995.) If the Cardinals can’t get back to .500 this year, after last year’s 78-84 record, they will, in fact, have had two losing seasons in a row. (And three of the last four.)

Now, a losing record was always the expectation heading into this year, which is why it’s such a pleasant surprise that St. Louis (69-70) is so close to .500 right now. Still, though: Allotting for the fact that wins and losses are not the whole point right now … it sure would be nice to get to .500, wouldn’t it? When you talk about stepping stones toward 2027, that’s a big one.