photo: Trevor Condon (Palm Beach Cardinals)
The Palm Beach Cardinals finished the 2026 season just above .500, improving over 2025. Despite the best full-season record in the division, the Class-A club fell short of the playoffs for the second straight year. At 208 transactions, the roster was in constant flux.
2026 results
Representing the St. Louis Cardinals at the Low-A level in the Florida State League East, the Palm Beach Cardinals played at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. Home to both the Beach Birds and their in-division rivals, the Jupiter Hammerheads (MIA), the stadium also hosts spring training for both teams’ major league counterparts. Needless to say, the FSL is a premier location for fostering talent, especially rookies, within Major League organizations.
Kicking off the regular season on April 2nd and concluding on September 6th, the Cards played a 132-game schedule. Finishing with a record of 67-65, the Cardinals had the fourth-best record in the 10-team FSL, which is made up of two divisions, East and West.
The season is divided into two halves, with the top team in each division at the end of each half punching their ticket to the postseason. With a 33-33 record at the split, the Birds tied for second in the East with the St. Lucie Mets (NYM), four games behind the Hammerheads.
Despite a positive mark of 34-32 in the second half, the Cardinals finished second again, this time 3 ½ games behind the Daytona Tortugas (CIN). As a consolation, when taking both halves into account, the Cardinals logged the best full-season record in the division.
The Cardinals were much better at home this year with a 37-29 record at Roger Dean, compared to their 30-36 record on the road. Against teams above .500, they went 20-22, proving themselves slightly worse than their strongest opponents.
For the year, the Birds had a plus 35 run differential, finishing in the green. They did struggle in close games, however, with a 2-3 record in extra-innings and a 14-24 record in one-run contests.
Coaching staff
Rich Benjamin stepped in as manager this season, replacing Gary Kendall. After serving as bench coach for the Florida Complex League Cardinals, this is Benjamin’s second year in the Cardinals organization and first with Palm Beach. He comes from a decorated career as a collegiate coach, in which he has a combined 14 total championships and over 550 career wins.
In his first year in the Cardinals organization, Evan Johnson took over as pitching coach. Johnson came from an assistant coaching role with the Youngstown State University baseball program.
Ben Brooks was also in his first season with the Cardinals organization, assuming the role of hitting coach. Brooks previously served three years as assistant coach for Tennessee Tech.
Yucary De La Cruz and Rodrigo Vigil were both in their first year in the Cardinals organization as well, serving as bench coach and assistant coach, respectively.
Pitching
The Cardinals’ pitching was uneven this season. Despite middling results in most metrics, both starters and bullpen pitching had their moments.
The 2026 pitching staff consisted of 25 pitchers, one more than last year. Of those 25, 21 pitched at least 20 innings with the team, but only one (Cade Crossland) threw more than 70 innings.
The team ERA was 4.93, placing them sixth in the FSL, and their batting average against of .246 was also sixth in the league.
The pitching staff racked up plenty of Ks as they struck out 1305 batters (third most in the FSL) while walking 657 (fifth most in the FSL).
Palm Beach’s starters struggled this year, posting a collective ERA of 5.19, second worst in the FSL, but their batting average against was better, at .240, fifth in the league. They walked the fourth-most batters at 245 and struck out the third-most with 564. 24 different pitchers made starts for the Birds, with just five making more than 10.
The relievers had their highs and lows with a combined ERA of 4.75, second-best in the league, and a .250 opponent average, third worst in the FSL. As for Ks and walks, the relievers struck out 741, the fourth-most in the FSL, and walked 412 batters, tied for third-most. They earned 26 saves and blew 14 opportunities, a 65% conversion rate.
Hitting
Hitting was the Cardinals’ strongest area this season and they posted impressive numbers in certain offensive statistics while lagging in others.
With a cumulative batting average of .240, the Cards were the second worst in the league. Much of this was due to a major issue with striking out, which Palm Beach hitters did a league-high 1318 times. Despite this, the batters were also disciplined at times, taking 703 walks, also the most in the FSL. That improved their OBP to .359, ranking fourth.
The offense totaled 1023 hits (fifth in the league) and 752 runs (second most), and was especially dangerous with the deep ball, hitting 137, second most in the FSL. On top of this, they were third in the league in both slugging, at .399, and OPS, at .758.
Roster considerations
Rosters in the Florida State League are constantly cycling players in and out with three major turning points during the regular season. The first of these rosters is the one set on opening day. Next, players from extended spring training are added based on injury replacements and promotions to the High-A Peoria team. Finally, new draft picks join the roster as rookie professionals in July, and even more players are promoted to Peoria.
Of the initial roster from opening day, only seven total players remained on the roster by the end of the season, five pitchers and two position players. Throughout the season, there were 208 total transactions made by the team.
These transactions were for a range of moves, like rehab assignments, promotions to Peoria, and rookies being brought up for their first chance at pro ball.
Key roster moves in (draft)
One notable rookie activation was Trevor Condon, the 13th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, who was called up to Palm Beach in August to make his professional debut.
Four other position players and five pitchers signed in late July joined the Beach Birds to make their professional debuts.
- RHPs Jacob Haley (11th round), Jaden Alba (14), Brian Garmon II (15), Dallis Moran (16), J.R. Fordham (non-drafted free agent)
- C Jayden Lobliner (9), SS Owen Henne (6), OF Gabe Camacho (18), SS Dee Kennedy (4).
Key roster moves in (internal)
Numerous players were brought up from extended spring training and the Florida Complex League all season long. Key Palm Beach arrivals by month were as follows.
April: LHP Yadiel Batista, RHP Justin Militello
May: RHS Payton Graham, RHR Anthony Watts
June: RHR Xavier Cruz, IF Sebastian Dos Santos
July: RHP Gabriel Chinchilla, RHP Keiverson Ramirez, C Juan Pablo Cabrera, IF Miguel Hernandez, 3B Cristofer Lebron, RHP Jan Cabrera
August: RHP Branneli Franco, RHP Jefferson Moran, RHP Earle Zulueta, OF Kenly Hunter
Also in August, 18-year-old prospect outfielder Alexander Frias joined the organization from Milwaukee and was assigned to Palm Beach to begin the Cardinals phase of his promising career.
Key roster moves out
Promotions upward began early on as right-handed pitchers Patrick Galle and Rubén Menes were moved up to Peoria near the end of April.
In May, the Cardinals sent six players to Peoria – shortstop Christian Martin, first baseman Jack Gurevitch, center fielder Luis Piño, righty Ty Van Dyke, outfielder Cameron Nickens, and right-hander Jacob Odle.
Only one promotion occurred in June as third baseman Michael Dattalo was brought up to the Chiefs on the 23rd.
In July, catcher Heriberto Caraballo was called up to Peoria. After the draft, he was joined by righty pitchers Dylan Driessen and Jack Martinez as well as catcher Chase Heath.
The final batch of promotions out came in August as outfielder Yordalin Peña, catcher Alex Birge, RHP Liam Best, shortstop Yairo Padilla, and RHP Brian Holiday all went to Peoria.
Award winners
Cardinals FSL Pitchers of the Week were Ty Van Dyke (early April) and Andrew Dutkanych (late July). League Players of the Week were Brayden Smith (late June) and Owen Henne (early September).
No Cardinals received FSL Pitcher or Player of the Month honors in 2026.
Following the 2026 season, outfielder Yordalin Peña was named to the Florida State League All-Star Team.
TCN Top Prospects
Throughout the 2026 season, 10 of the top 30 prospects in the Cardinals’ organization made appearances for Palm Beach. Among the standouts are #11 Trevor Condon, #12 Alexander Frias, #18 Yairo Padilla, #27 Miguel Hernandez and #28 Sebastian Dos Santos.
What’s Next?
More details on the Palm Beach Cardinals’ top hitters, relievers, and starting pitchers are coming as we select the best of the best in upcoming articles in this series.
Check out The Cardinal Nation’s annual article series highlighting team results and top hitters and pitchers across the entire St. Louis Cardinals system. The Peoria Chiefs Season Review is next up.
The full schedule for The Cardinal Nation’s annual article series highlighting team results and top hitters and pitchers across the St. Louis Cardinals system can be found in the following article. After our free Team Recaps across affiliates, we will recognize individual player leaders through the current month and into November.
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