The top of the eighth inning Monday felt like a celebration of the potential the Cardinals’ young core has been displaying early in the year.
Jordan Walker hit yet another blast to put the Cardinals ahead 4-3, and the bottom of the lineup added on two more to give St. Louis a comfortable 6-3 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning.
And then the bullpen couldn't hold the lead.
Ryne Stanek, who played fireman for the Cardinals in the bottom of the seventh, allowed two singles before giving up a three-run missile off the bat of James Wood to surrender the newfound lead.
Matt Svanson entered the game following Stanek. After posting a 1.94 ERA in 60 1/3 innings last season, Svanson struggled on the mound for St. Louis, allowing three runs on three extra-base hits to seal the Cardinals' 9-6 loss to the Nationals. Swanson’s ERA has now ballooned to 15.00 on the season. Stanek’s ERA stands at 6.35.
Even JoJo Romero got hit around a bit Monday night, and had it not been for Thomas Saggese’s first career outfield assist to nail Brady House at home, Romero would have given up his first earned run of the season.
Outside of Romero, Riley O’Brien, and the recently recalled Gordon Graceffo, who all sport 0.00 ERAs thus far, every Cardinal reliever has a 4.50 ERA or higher through the club’s first 10 games. Manager Oliver Marmol went from a bullpen that truly went eight deep at times in 2025 to barely having three guys he can confidently rely on. That has to improve soon, as the Cardinals’ rotation isn’t exactly built to go deep into ballgames. The bullpen’s 6.15 ERA is 26th in baseball thus far.
The Cardinals' bullpen had actually rebounded really well after a rough opening series against the Rays, where they had multiple blow-up innings. Against the Mets and the Tigers, Cardinals relievers posted a 2.16 ERA in 25 innings, but their 5.08 FIP over that stretch indicated that the good times might not last.
The real killer for the Cardinals here is the fact that fun rallies from their young position players seem to be short lived because of the struggles of the relief corps. Monday's game should have been all about Walker’s continued home run parade, Saggese’s winning plays, and Ramón Urías continued hot start at the plate.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of bright spots,” Marmol told Cardinals.TV’s Chip Caray postgame. “Game sucked overall, as far as how it ended, but there’s a lot of bright spots in what the guys did today offensively.
And hey, big picture, those are the things that truly matter. When the Cardinals are ready to contend again, which could be sooner than you’d think if Walker’s breakout is real, the bullpen is likely to be a very different cast of characters. So in a season where development and progress for young players takes priority, a leaky bullpen is actually the least of their concerns.
But when it comes to the standings, brutal bullpen showings have the potential to cause a club to spiral. The Cardinals could quickly spoil a hot start to their season if they are unable to hold leads late in games, and so hopefully the talent and the pedigree of their group can rise above their current struggles.
“You ain’t kidding,” said Marmol to reporters. “This is part of it. You regroup, you point out the things we did well, and then, no different than any other day, you circle back to the things we can make some improvements on and keep going.”