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With the season nigh upon us, it’s time to revive a thread where folks can go crazy and make the picks they’d never dream of laying a wager on…yet will look like a genius if they prove right. It’s BOLD pick time!
Last year was not the best year to send Mo off, but in Chaim we trust…? The new regime has a shot to inject some enthusiasm into this fan base, so we will see how that turns out! Would anything between 60 and 85 wins really be a surprise?
As a matter of rule, know that your picks must be BOLD to count here. They can be positive or negative, but don’t be boring. Nothing probable, such as “The Cards finish 4th in the division” or even likely, like “Ivan Herrera has the highest OPS.”
Let’s see those BOLD picks!
The Cardinals exceed expectations and not only qualify for the playoffs as WC2 – they actually win the WC series before bowing out in the Divisional round.
Jordan Walker flames out early and is sent to AAA Memphis where he finds his stroke and returns to StL after the all-star break to help lead the charge into the playoffs.
Chaim and Ollie are the toast of the town.
Jordan Walker is a top 3 finisher for the Gold Glove.
JJ Weatherholt leads the team in hits, RBIs, runs, and sadly, errors.
Matthew Liberatore finishes in the top 10 for Cy Young.
Our best reliever by FWAR for the season isn’t even on the opening day roster.
No position player with over 250 at bats has a batting average above .250.
Andre Granillo becomes the Nats best reliever and I get to say I told you so.
Very Bold predictions after drinking several Budweisers
1. 80-82 No wild card
2. Walker struggles but isn’t sent down 16 homers 63 rbi .238 avg
3. Wetherholt 10 hrs 60 rbi 260 avg
Does not win rookie of year4. Gorman has ‘good’season: 25 hrs 75 rbi .240 avg
5: Liberatore 13-11 3.60 era
6. Mcgreevy 12-10 4:15 era
7. Winn Wins gold glove again
Hits: 8 55 2408. May is only Cardinal to make all star team
9. May, Romero and Stanek are traded at deadline
10. Burleson 14hrs 55 rbi
.270 avg
Spends several weeks on injured list11. Herrera doesn’t cut it at catching. After 6 weeks moved to DH
Injuries limit him to 15 50 265 season12. Bloom praises Oli for a job well done
1. Wetherholt finishes 2nd in ROY voting thus earning a full year of service time and earning the Cardinals an extra draft pick.
2. May, Romero, Noot, and Stanek are all traded in late July.
3. By July 1 Baez replaces Walker as the starting RF.
4. The Cardinals force Herrera to catch two or three times a week, which leads to chronic knee pain and him putting up a .695 OPS.
5. Velazquez starts out hot in April but the league eventually figures him out and his OPS plummets. Church becomes an everyday player and puts up a modest but productive .720 OPS for the year.
Liking the picks so far, though some are more BOLD than others.
My picks:
1. The Cardinals start the season on a tear…in a bad way. They are 29-52 at the midway point and 100 losses seems almost certain as fans are despairing of the future. However, they finish the final half at 46-35 to end up at 75 wins, gaining momentum for the 2027 season.
2. JJ Wetherholt is up all season and hits .280 on the nose. He finishes 3rd in the rookie of the year voting, causing much weeping and gnashing of teeth amongst supporters of Dewitt’s finances.
3. Dustin May is the deadline’s hottest commodity after allowing 1 earned run in 4 starts (27 IP, 26K, 6BB) in late May and June. He’s traded to Seattle after their rotation falls apart due to injury, and the return is Ryan Sloan, who has had just an OK 2026 so far, due to the Mariners’ desperation.
4. The backfill for May is Quinn Mathews, who becomes the best starter in the rotation, going 7-1 to end the year with impeccable command after finding just the right grip early season in Memphis.
5. Joshua Baez hits .300+ with 20 HRs for Memphis by late July while Jordan Walker scuffles along. The Cards bring up Baez, who hits .188 the rest of the way and option Walker to Memphis, where he hits .370 with 15 HRs in 45 games. Memphis wins the AAA title. Right field remains a black hole and a huge question mark for the future.
1. Burleson, Herrera, Gorman and Velazquez become a feared middle of the order lineup.
2. Church becomes the starting CF by July 1 and finishes the season with a .275 BA and .825 OPS.
3. After the trade deadline, the starting rotation is: Liberatore, McGreevy, Dobbins, Fitts and Mathews. All have ERAs under 4.50.
4. Walker gets sent down for a couple of months, regains his hitting stroke, comes back up in July and hits .275 for the remainder of the year.
5. Cardinals are the surprise of the NL and win 89 games to make the playoffs. They get to the NLCS where they lose in 7 games to the Dodgers.
6. Wetherholt hits .290/.420/.495/.915 and unanimously wins ROY.
Cardinals finish in the basement of NL Central.
Only one Cardinal player hits over .250.
Donovan and Edman have terrific years – for somebody else.
Gorman and Walker continue to disappoint – for us.
A steady outfield remains elusive.
MLB persists with ridiculous ghost runners.
Robot umpires win the hearts of the fans.
Busch stadium concessions to include Nehi Grape in 2026.
We are 60-50 at the deadline, 3rd place in the Central, 6 games back. We make the postseason but lose in the WC round.
Ivan Herrera plays with the intensity and athleticism that he displayed against the Astros. Becomes a mainstay of the team.
Burleson continues to develop into a power first basemen with surprising defense.
Ramon Urias becomes starting second baseman with Jose Fermin as a constant challenge to earn the spot.
Winn is completely healthy and plays like the All Star that he is.
Power hitting third baseman Nolan Gorman continues to mash as his defense approaches All Al Star status.
Nelson Velazquez continues impressive hitting that he found in Mexico during 2025 offseason. Oli Marmol is tormented with finding ways to keep fan favorite, Lars Nootbaar on the field.
Victor Scott’s defense locks him into starting lineup, but Nathan Church keeps pushing.
Jordan Walker continues lifting and lofting the ball like he did against the Astros. HR’s, RBI’s come. Josh Baez not worried, but taking notice.
Cards win 87 games and wind up in 3rd place with Brewers wining the Division again and the Cubs wondering why they couldn’t acquire top quality pitching, like Dustin May, for example.
Always one of the most entertaining threads of the year. A chance to let your imagination run wild and have fun with “what if?” scenarios.
With our club mostly playing for experience this year, and giving guys a chance to see what they can do, let’s say we come up roses and have a “’69 Mets” kind of year – a miracle in other words. Here we go.
1. Starting the season at 7-12 after 19 games, manager Ollie Marmol sees that this team needs a theme – a rallying point – something to pull them together. He calls a team meeting and talks of the centennial year of the first Cardinals champions in 1926, and how they knocked off the mighty Ruth-led Yankess in the World Series. This team owes it to those long ago champs to play with pride and passion. He creates jerseys to use in pregame warmups and batting practice that have on the back “Cardinals” where the players name normally is located, and ” ’26” for the number. This he says, is their honoring of that 1926 team, and their cohesion as the 2026 team.
After the emotional rally they go out and promptly lose game 20 to drop to 7-13, but over the next month start to gel, catch fire in August and win the division.
2. Pitching ccoach Dusty Blake along with Marmol develop a philosophy where they are going to not be so quick to pull the starters at the first sign of trouble. They let them work their way through tough innings. The result is a growing confidence in the starters as they push each other and become the most reliable unit in the league. We end up with the top three winners in the league as May finishes with 23 wins, and Libertore is right behind with 22. McGreevey finishes third, tied with the Dodgers Ymamoto at 18 wins.
3. Thomas Saggesse is summoned to play third base in mid May as Nolan Gorman is struggling, and Marmol wants someone who can at least put the ball in play somewhat regularly. Saggess catches fire and ends up hitting .337 to win the batting championship. He also knocks out 18 home runs and has a 131 OPS+, finishing third in the MVP voting.
Other offensive stars include Masyn Winn (.302 average and 42 steals), Victor Scott (a .359 OBP and league leading 77 stolen bases), rookie JJ Wetherholt (.292 with 11 homers before a season ending injury), and Yohel Pozo (19 homers in only 93 games).
3. The much maligned Gorman is returned to starting at third in mid-Augest after a season-ending injury to star rooking JJ Wetherholt, hitting .292 at the time, moves Saggesse to second. Gorman hits 12 of his 15 homers from there on and reassets himself as a future star.
4. Chaim Bloom wins the Executive of the Year award, Marmol Manger of the Year, while Wetherholt finishes runner up in the Rookie of the Year voting.
5. The “Cardinals ’26” jerseys become wildly popular and are the “it” thing to wear to Cardinal games. Fans gobble them up and they become hard to get as outlets cannot keep them in stock. Some are seen on ebay going for $250 and more.
6. BikeMike proactively trademarks “Cardinals 26” and receives a royalty from each usage of it on merchandise.
My predictions from last year were awful at an 0-6. Maybe I can get at least one correct this year.
1. The pitching staff experiences significant churn and 35 or more pitchers will throw at least 1 inning for the Cardinals.
2. The team plays very bad in the 1st half with a ~.400 winning percentage, but in the second half the roster looks quite different and has a .550 2nd half winning percentage setting the young team up for an exciting 2027 season if there is a season.
3. Quinn Mathews comes up mid year and becomes the staff ace while showing All Star potential for future seasons.
4. The OF is a gaping hole on the roster with the 2nd half promotion of Baez and 2nd half improvements to Scott to be a league average hitter make the OF middle of the pack and the OF being a LF Church/Levenson platoon, CF Scott, RF Baez
5. Wetherholt makes the All Star game and wins Rookie of the Year in the NL while becoming a fan favorite for the combo of his personality, all fields approach, and clear dedication to his craft and has the most jerseys sold on the team.
6. Herrera also makes the All Star game and ends the season with a wRC+ of 150 while catching some in the 1st half with the end half being full time DH.I’ll keep it simple. The Cardinals are going to lose and lose a lot this year. That isn’t all bad. They will continue to elevate the young talent in the system as a result.
They will be dealing pitching and a few position veterans and some prospects (rebalance some positions) at the deadline for additional talent. I expect them to add that young power outfield prospect(s) through this process in late July.
By Memorial Day, we will start to see the roster churn begin. Memphis and even Springfield will see some high risers get the call. Some of these current roster guys are on a clock, and midnight for their Cardinals career is about to strike zero one way or another unkess they quickly figure it out.
When they turn the lights out on the 2026 season, the Cardinals will be in line for a high-quality draft pick and be well positioned in the farm. They should finish this season shy of the 70 win mark with the opening day roster that’s on hand. It’s just not a good one. I say they finish around 67-95 plus or minus 3 losses.
Better days are ahead. It’s a process so knowing that I can endure what’s ahead in 2026. Good luck to the Cardinals, and hopefully, they prove me wrong. Enjoy 2026, everyone. Happy opening day.
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