photo: Jordan Walker (St. Louis Cardinals)
Coming out of the break, the bullpen faltered as St. Louis dropped two of three in Arizona. Jordan Walker became the eighth Cardinal to compete in the Home Run Derby and the team’s first winner. Our history feature covers all eight.
All-Star Week festivities
Home Run Derby – Monday, July 13, 2026
The annual MLB Home Run Derby took place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, site of the 2026 All-Star Game. Eight players participated, including Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker, and former Cardinal Willson Contreras.
Walker and Contreras survived until the semifinals, when the latter was eliminated by Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber. Walker defeated red-hot Tampa Bay Rays’ third baseman Junior Caminero and advanced to the finals to face Schwarber.
The participants were allotted 15 swings in the final round. If a player hit a home run on the 15th swing, he was allowed to continue until a ball did not go out. Schwarber hit 11 home runs on his 15 swings. Walker hit eight home runs and then four additional home runs on the 15th swing in a comeback win.
When asked if the hostile Philly crowd, rooting for Schwarber, bothered him, Walker replied, “They don’t boo nobodies.”
The Derby was televised for the first time on Netflix. Viewership was reportedly down 7% from 2025. This is likely because Netflix is a subscription only streaming platform, and many are not subscribers, including this author.
Previous years were televised on a platform more widely available to the public. There were also complaints on social media from some who did watch that the production was subpar.
Tuesday, July 14, 2026 – American League 4, National League 0
The annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on Tuesday evening at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The AL blanked the NL by a 4-0 score.
There were three Cardinal players on the NL roster. None started. Right fielder Jordan Walker was named to the NL roster as St. Louis’ representative. Two others were added later as replacements. Iván Herrera was selected to replace DH Shohei Ohtani, who was unable to play due to a knee injury. RHP Riley O’Brien was selected to replace RHP Paul Skenes, who pitched the Sunday before the break.
Home Run Derby champion Walker entered the game in the eighth inning as the replacement in left. He had one plate appearance in the bottom of the ninth and struck out.
Herrera came into the game as the DH in the bottom of the eighth and grounded into a force out.
O’Brien logged a scoreless third inning, but an errant pitch hit Rays’ third baseman Junior Caminero on the hand. Caminero had to leave the game, but the X-rays were negative. Caminero was in the lineup for the Rays’ game on Friday.
Cardinals Game Recaps
Wednesday, July 15, 2026 – Off
Thursday, July 16, 2026 – Off
Friday, July 17, 2026 – Cardinals 5 at Diamondbacks 4
The Cardinals defeated the Diamondbacks by a 5-4 score at Chase Field on Friday.
Starter Michael McGreevy pitched 6 1/3 innings, gave up two runs, one earned, on six hits, walked one and fanned five.
George Soriano relieved McGreevy and threw 2/3 of a scoreless inning. Luis Gastelum surrendered two runs in the eighth but was awarded the win. Riley O’Brien tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his 25th save.
The Cardinals went up 2-0 in the first inning. Iván Herrera reached on an error. Alec Burleson singled. Jordan Walker drew a walk. Masyn Winn plated Herrera and Burleson on a single.
The Diamondbacks scored single runs in the second and third to tie the game.
St. Louis regained the lead in the fifth on a solo home run by JJ Wetherholt. They made it 4-2 in the top of the eighth. Burleson walked. Lars Nootbaar singled. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Burleson came home on a sac fly by Winn.
Arizona tied the game again with a two-run bottom of the eighth. The Cardinals rallied in the top of the ninth with an unanswered run on a sac fly by Ivan Herrera to win, 5-4.
The Cardinals scored five runs on nine hits. Wetherholt was 2-for-4 with an RBI. José Fermín was 2-for-4. Winn had three RBI. Burleson scored two runs.
Fermín was picked off first base. O’Brien picked a runner off first base. Jimmy Crooks had a passed ball.
Saturday, July 18, 2026 – Cardinals 3 at Diamondbacks 5
The Cardinals fell to the Diamondbacks in the second game of the series on Saturday.
Starter Dustin May pitched five innings, gave up five runs on eight hits, walked four and fanned six. May took the loss.
Gordon Graceffo relieved May and threw a scoreless sixth. Justin Bruihl hurled a scoreless seventh. Matt Svanson tossed a scoreless eighth.
The Diamondbacks took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. They added three in the third and one in the fourth to lead 5-0.
The Cardinals scored two runs in the sixth. JJ Wetherholt and Alec Burleson singled. Jordan Walker singled to score Wetherholt. Lars Nootbaar singled. Burleson came home on a force out by Masyn Winn.
St Louis added one run in the ninth on a solo home run by Jimmy Crooks to bring the final score to 5-3.
The offense scored three runs on eight hits. Wetherholt was 2-for-5. Burleson was 2-for-4.
Winn stole his eighth base of the season.
Sunday, July 19, 2026 – Cardinals 7 at Diamondbacks 8 (10 innings)
Blowing a 7-0 lead, the Cardinals suffered a bad loss to the Diamondbacks in the final game of the series on Sunday. Arizona prevailed in the weekend set, two games to one.
Starter Andre Pallante pitched 5 ½ innings, gave up three runs on five hits, walked two and struck out three.
Ryne Stanek relieved Pallante and surrendered one run in 2/3 of an inning. George Soriano relinquished a run in the seventh. Gordon Graceffo yielded one run in the eighth. Luis Gastelum allowed one unearned run in the final 1 1/3 innings and took the loss.
The Cardinals surged to a 5-0 lead in the third inning. Lars Nootbaar walked. Blaze Jordan tripled to score Nootbaar. JJ Wetherholt singled to plate Jordan. Iván Herrera singled. Jordan Walker doubled and Wetherholt scored. Alec Burleson drove in Herrera and Walker on a single.
St. Louis extended their lead to 7-0 in the fifth. Burleson singled. José Fermín walked. Nootbaar walked. Burleson and Fermín came home on a single by Jordan.
The Diamondbacks got on the board with a three-run sixth. They added two runs in the seventh or a Gerardo Perdomo inside the park home run and two in the eighth as Nolan Arenado went deep against the Cardinal bullpen to tie the game.
The Cardinals failed to score the tiebreaker runner in the top of the 10th. Arizona did not fail, walking it off in the home 10th.
The offense scored seven runs on 13 hits. Jordan was 3-for-5 with three RBI. Burleson was 3-for-5 with two RBI. Herrera was 3-for-6. Fermín was 2-for-3. Nootbaar walked four times and scored a run.
The Big Picture
The Cardinals ended the short All-Star week with a record of 1-2, dropping the series at the Diamondbacks via a bad loss on Sunday. The Cardinals have fallen back into a tie with the Pirates for third/fourth place in the NL Central and have a record of 51-47. They are also tied with the Pirates and the Marlins for the third Wild Card.
The loss on Sunday was not due to the offense. The team scored seven runs and should have won. The top performers for the three days by OPS were Jimmy Crooks (1.850 in 4 ABs), Blaze Jordan (1.600 in 5 ABs), Alec Burleson (.962), José Fermín (.938), and JJ Wetherholt (.908).
At the bottom were Nelson Velázquez (.000), Bryan Torres (.000), Pedro Pagés (.000), Nathan Church (.000), and Iván Herrera (.388).
The team’s weakness and the cause for Sunday’s bad loss and many others, is pitching. Specifically, the bullpen. Relievers have had trouble holding leads all season. That is not likely to change given that the Cardinals are a rebuilding team. Acquiring expensive or long-term talent from outside the organization is not what rebuilding teams do. The bullpen is what can be thrown together from the pitchers already on the team, brought up from the minor leagues, or added through inexpensive methods such as waiver claims.
The starting pitchers have had their struggles at times, but the rotation is less of a problem. Late losses after the starter has departed, are where the trouble arises more often than not. In the case of Sunday’s game, Andre Pallante did give up three runs in his final inning, but that was not the cause of the loss.
Dustin May had a start he would probably like to forget as well. This happens from time to time. The rotation could certainly be improved, but that is for a later time. The here and now issue is the bullpen. This team cannot absorb so many late inning meltdowns and hope to stay in contention.
There was also a baserunning blunder in Sunday’s game and some questionable defense. That needs to be cleaned up.
The Cardinals begin the week with a three-game series at the Angels, the worst team in MLB. They then return home to St. Louis for a makeup game against the Diamondbacks, who must return to St. Louis for a day. The weekend series with the Reds concludes the week.
Stay tuned as the season progresses.
NL Central Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB |
| Milwaukee | 62 | 37 | 0.626 | |
| Chicago | 56 | 43 | 0.566 | 6 |
| St. Louis | 51 | 47 | 0.520 | 10.5 |
| Pittsburgh | 52 | 48 | 0.520 | 10.5 |
| Cincinnati | 45 | 53 | 0.459 | 16.5 |
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no trade or acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
- 7/17 The Cardinals acquired High-A RHP Trey Pooser from the Tampa Bay Rays as the player to be named later in the Chris Roycroft trade.
- 7/17 The Cardinals selected the contract of RHP Scott Blewett from the Memphis Redbirds.
- 7/17 The Cardinals placed LHP JoJo Romero on the 15-day injured list retroactive to July 14. Appendicitis.
- 7/17 The Cardinals designated Memphis C Yohel Pozo for assignment.
Injury Report
- 3B Ramón Urías was placed on the 60-day injured list on June 12. He has elbow lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) in both elbows.
- RHP Max Rajcic (right elbow soreness) was placed on the 15-day injured list on July 6, then transferred him to the 60-day injured list the next day, July 7. Rajcic is seeking a second opinion on the elbow issue.
- LHP JoJo Romero (appendicitis) was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 14. Romero had an emergency appendectomy on July 16. A timeline for his return has not been established.
Looking Ahead
The road trip that began with a three-game series in Phoenix versus the Diamondbacks will end in Los Angeles for three games with the last-place AL West Angels. Kyle Leahy is scheduled to pitch the Monday game, followed by Matthew Liberatore on Tuesday, and Michael McGreevy on Wednesday.
The final homestand in July begins with a makeup game with the Diamondbacks on Thursday, July 23. This game was originally scheduled to be played on Thursday, June 25 at Busch Stadium, but was postponed due to rain. Following the make-up game, the Cardinals have a weekend set with the Reds.
The final series of the homestand is four games with the Cubs.
A road trip begins on the final day of July with a weekend series with the Blue Jays in Toronto. The road trip concludes in New York for three with the Yankees.
Blast from the Past
On Monday, July 13, the annual Home Run Derby took place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. This event, set during the week of the All-Star Game, first took place in 1985 and has been an annual event ever since (with the exception of 1988, cancelled because of rain, and 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic).
The derby has had multiple format changes over the years. In the early years, from 1985-1994, it featured teams made up from players in both the AL and the NL. Each player was given two innings to hit the most home runs he could. The total home runs hit by each player on the two teams were added to determine the winning team.
From 1995-2005, it was a three-round contest with individual players winning on their tally in the final round. From 2006-2013, there were still three rounds, but there was no reset of the tally until the final round, and the winner was based on total home runs in all three rounds.
In 2014, the format was changed to a set number of “outs”. There was also a “bye” for the player with the highest total in the first round. The second-round winner faced the first-round winner in the final round.
From 2015 to 2023, a time limit of five minutes was established for contestants to hit the most runs as possible in each round. Two players met in a head-to-head matchup with the winner advancing to the next round.
In 2024 and 2025, the format was a hybrid of a three-minute round with a 40-pitch limit, along with a bonus round with outs, and a final with the time limit reduced to two minutes.
In 2026, the time limit was eliminated, and players had 20 swings in the first round, and 15 swings thereafter. A player who hit a home run on his final swing may continue hitting until he fails to hit one out.
Over the years, some Cardinal players participated in the Home Run Derby, though not every year. Until 2026, no Cardinal had ever won the Derby. That changed with Jordan Walker.
Below is a list of all Cardinal players who competed in the Home Run Derby, and the years in which they competed. Only the years in which the player participated as a Cardinal are included.
- Jack Clark – The first baseman competed in the first Derby in 1985. He hit two home runs as part of the NL team. This was the only year Clark competed.
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Ray Lankford (Getty Images) Ray Lankford – Lankford competed in the Derby once, in 1997. He hit two home runs in total.
- Mark McGwire – McGwire competed as a Cardinal for the first time in 1998. He hit four home runs in total that year. He competed again in 1999 and hit 16 home runs.
- Albert Pujols – Pujols competed for the first time as a Cardinal in 2003. He hit the most home runs in total, with 26, but because the tally in each round was reset, Pujols hit one less home run in the final round than the winner, Garret Anderson from the Angels. Pujols competed three more times as a Cardinal, in 2007, 2009, and 2022.
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Jim Edmonds (Getty Images) Jim Edmonds – Edmonds competed once while with St. Louis, in 2003 along with teammate Albert Pujols. Edmonds advanced to the second round but was eliminated. Edmonds hit a total of eight home runs.
- Matt Holliday – Holliday competed the first time in 2010. He hit five home runs in total. He returned in 2011 and also hit five home runs.
- Carlos Beltran – Beltran competed as a Cardinal in 2012 with a total of 12 home runs.
- Jordan Walker – Walker competed in 2026 under the new format. Walker won the Derby in a dramatic final round in which he hit six consecutive home runs, four on his final allotted “swing” to beat Kyle Schwarber 12 to 11.
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