photo: Riley O’Brien (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals went 3-2-1 for the week and are 8-5-1 in spring training action with this week’s loss to Nicaragua considered an exhibition. Closer candidate Riley O’Brien made his spring debut on Saturday. Our history section highlights key events this past week in team annals.
Spring Game recaps
Monday, March 2, 2026 – Cardinals 3, Marlins 2
The St. Louis Cardinals edged the Miami Marlins 3-2 at Roger Dean Stadium on Monday. Andre Pallante started and pitched three innings, gave up one run on three hits and struck out two.
Following Pallante on the mound were Matt Pushard, Bruce Zimmermann, Ryan Fernandez, George Soriano and Scott Blewett. Pushard allowed the second Marlins run.
Cardinals runs were driven in by Yohel Pozo, Colton Ledbetter and Jeremy Rivas. Ramon Mendoza had the only extra base hit, a double. Joshua Baez was picked off first base.
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 – Off day
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 – Cardinals 1, Nicaragua 2
The Cardinals lost to Team Nicaragua in a pre-WBC exhibition game on Wednesday. Matthew Liberatore took the mound and pitched 3 1/3 innings, gave up two runs on five hits and fanned five.
Relief pitchers were Gerson Moreno, JoJo Romero, Ryne Stanek and Richard Fitts.
Joshua Baez went 2-for-3 with a stolen base. A solo home run by Andy Yerzy was the Cardinals’ only score. Iván Herrera also stole a base.
Thursday, March 5, 2026 – Cardinals 3 at Pirates 2
The Cardinals topped the Pirates in a road contest on Thursday. In his spring and Cardinals debut, starter Dustin May pitched three scoreless innings, allowed one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Relievers were Quinn Mathews, Darlin Saladin, Matt Svanson, Justin Bruihl and Ryan Fernandez. Mathews surrendered the Pirates’ two runs, one earned.
Nolan Gorman hit a solo home run. Singles by Jimmy Crooks and Pedro Pagés drove in the other two runs.
Victor Scott stole his second base of the spring. Ramón Urías also stole a base. Jordan Walker was caught stealing. Gorman made a throwing error. Pagés made an error on a pickoff.
Friday, March 6, 2026 – Cardinals 10 at Orioles 2
The Cardinals pounded the Orioles in their second road game on the Gulf Coast. Michael McGreevy started and pitched four innings, gave up one run on four hits and fanned four.
McGreevy was followed by Matt Pushard, George Soriano, Packy Naughton, Chris Roycroft and Max Rajcic. Rajcic relinquished the second Orioles score.
Yohel Pozo went 2-for-2 with two RBI and two runs scored. Joshua Baez had two RBI and two runs scored. Iván Herrera was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Nelson Velázquez was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Jeremy Rivas was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Velázquez and Baez each hit a home run with the latter a two-run shot.
Saturday, March 7, 2026 – Cardinals 2, Mets 3
The Cardinals fell to the Mets by a 3-2 score at Roger Dean Stadium on Saturday. Kyle Leahy took the mound and tossed four scoreless, no-hit innings, with five strikeouts.
Relief pitchers were Riley O’Brien, Brycen Mautz, Austin Love, Darlin Saladin, Jose Davila and Nick Racquet. Mautz surrendered two runs. Saladin allowed one run.
Alec Burleson went 3-for-3. Solo home runs by Joshua Baez and Miguel Ugueto were the Cardinals’ only runs.
Yairo Padilla made two throwing errors. O’Brien picked a runner off first base.
Sunday, March 8, 2026 – Cardinals 2 at Marlins 2
The Cardinals and the Marlins tied in Sunday’s game at Roger Dean Stadium. Starter Andre Pallante pitched four innings, gave up one run on two hits, walked one and fanned three.
In relief following Pallante were Ryne Stanek, JoJo Romero, Justin Bruihl, Scott Blewett and Gerson Moreno. Bruihl allowed the Marlins’ second run.
Pedro Pagés and Yordalin Pena drove in the Cardinals’ two runs. The offense was held to five hits and were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Dakota Harris committed a fielding error.
News and Notes for Spring Training
This section contains information and snippets of news that don’t require extensive coverage but are of interest to Cardinal fans.
- The Cardinals are selling “Coca-Cola Unlimited” tickets for the upcoming season. These tickets are for seating in Big Mac Land, sections 271 and 272. Fans purchasing these tickets get access to food and drink at a designated “unlimited concession stand”. More information on these tickets can be found here .
- Cardinals all-inclusive tickets, Opening Day tickets, Cardinals Theme tickets, and single game tickets are now on sale. Information on purchasing any of these tickets and more can be found here. Spring Training tickets are also available here.
- “Banana Ball” will return to Busch Stadium in 2026. The Savannah Bananas popular entertainment baseball team will come to Busch Stadium on Friday, August 21 and Saturday, August 22 as part of their world tour. More information about the event and how to get tickets can be found here.
The Big Picture
Spring Training continues with the final two weeks of games remaining. The Cardinals will play eight games in the coming week, with two games each against the Astros, Mets and Nationals, and one more game with the Orioles. The team has split squad games on Monday. The Cardinals’ current spring record sits at 8-5-1.
The World Baseball Classic also continues, with pool play ending on Thursday. As previously reported, the Cardinals have eight players out for the tournament, two major league players and six minor league players. The WBC is set to end on March 17.
The only questions remaining for the Cardinals at this time are who will make the Opening Day roster. One question mark is whether outfielder Jordan Walker will be on the major league roster. He has not yet shown much improvement in performance over last season. Moreover, Walker has competition for his outfield spot in the form of Joshua Baez, who, unlike Walker, has performed exceptionally well in a short time this spring. There is already a cacophony of voices seeking to have Baez go north with the team at the end of camp.
A major issue with Baez is that he finished his 2025 season at Double-A Springfield. The lack of experience at the Triple-A level could hinder his development. Walker made the same leap from Double-A to the major leagues, and many have opined that this may have contributed to his long struggles at the major league level.
One wonders why the team might take this risk a second time. It might be wise for the Cardinals not to listen to the calls for Baez to make the team, and allow the outfielder to further develop in Memphis, at least for the first half of the season.
Another issue is who will be in the starting rotation when the season begins. There are many options for those five spots, though it appears Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Richard Fitts, and Dustin May are likely candidates. Kyle Leahy and incumbent Andre Pallante are also options, as would Hunter Dobbins be if healthy. All (except rehabbing Dobbins) have been pitching well as of late. The fifth spot may be up for grabs by whoever else stands out in the remainder of spring training.
On Saturday, the Cardinals cut six players from major league camp, optioning C Jimmy Crooks, C Leonardo Bernal, OF Bryan Torres, IF César Prieto and RHP Tink Hence. Non-roster invitee pitcher Skylar Hales was assigned to minor league camp. Major league camp is down to 51, which includes 34 roster players and 17 non-roster players.
The cut of Crooks from the roster signals the team has likely decided on Yohel Pozo as the third catcher. Crooks came up at the end of last season but will start 2026 in Memphis.
Iván Herrera is the wild card, both in terms of health (he has been out the last few days with knee inflammation) and his ability to stick at the catcher position. Herrera spent most of the 2025 season as the DH with brief stints behind the plate and in the outfield. He wants to catch in 2026 and the Cardinals are letting him.
Stay tuned as Spring Training continues.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no trade or acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
- 3/7 The Cardinals optioned RHP Tink Hence, 2B César Prieto, OF Bryan Torres, C Leonardo Bernal, and C Jimmy Crooks to the Memphis Redbirds.
- 3/7 The Cardinals reassigned NRI pitcher Skylar Hales to the Memphis Redbirds.
Injury Report
- OF Lars Nootbaar (heel surgery) will continue his rehab at the spring training facility. His availability for Opening Day remains unlikely.
- RHP Hunter Dobbins is still recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee which occurred in July. Dobbins can pitch but is being held out of agility drills. Dobbins recently underwent testing on his knee and the results were as expected.
- LHP Zack Thompson missed all the 2025 season with a torn lat muscle and underwent surgery in August to clean up his left shoulder. Thompson is on a throwing program and he won’t be cleared to pitch until sometime after the regular season starts. He is no longer on the 40-man roster.
- RHP Riley O’Brien suffered a mid-right calf strain during a bullpen session on February 14. O’Brien returned to pitch on Saturday with a scoreless inning. He was scheduled to play for Korea in the WBC but that was forestalled by the injury. O’Brien could join Team Korea in later rounds, but that is unclear.
- C Iván Herrera was scratched from Saturday’s game with knee inflammation. The plan is to wait 48 hours and reevaluate.
- SS Masyn Winn was kept from playing shortstop for a week due to a sore throwing shoulder. He appeared in one game at DH during that time. Winn returned to the field on Saturday, March 7.
Looking Ahead
Spring Training continues into its third full week. The Cardinals have an official record of 8-5-1 and begin on Monday with games against the Astros and Orioles on a split squad day. The remainder of the week includes the Astros again, the Marlins, and the Mets and Nationals twice.
The World Baseball Classic pool play also continues this coming week with the quarterfinals beginning on Friday. The Cardinals have two major league players, Gordon Graceffo and Thomas Saggese, playing for Team Italy. Six minor league players are playing for various other countries. The WBC final will be on Tuesday, March 17.
St. Louis’ spring training will conclude on Monday, March 23 with an exhibition game against the Springfield Cardinals at Hammons Field in Springfield. (The Springfield squad will be made up of mostly the 2026 Memphis Redbirds roster, who end their spring training at the same time as the major league team.)
The Cardinals’ regular season begins on March 26, with the opening series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Busch Stadium.
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast from the Past continues with the series highlighting notable events in the history of the franchise during a relevant period.
In this installment, we look at events that occurred during the period March 2 through March 8. For each, its date, individual(s) involved, a description of the event, and any other relevant details are provided.
March 2, 2016 – The Cardinals signed 2B Kolten Wong to a five-year/$25.5 million contract. It included a $12.5 million option with a $1 million buyout.
March 4, 1948 – Cardinals icon Stan Musial signed a contract for $31,000, the same as the previous year, after he had been promised a performance-based raise. Musial’s salary was raised to $36,000 when he was hitting .403 at the All-Star Break.
March 5, 1965 – Cardinals and Cooperstown Hall of Famer Pepper Martin passed away at the age of 61 of a heart attack.
March 6, 1923 – Cardinals manager Branch Rickey announced that players would begin wearing numbers on the left sleeve of their uniforms. The practice was abandoned shortly after.
March 8, 2013 – The Cardinals signed OF/1B Allen Craig to a five-year/$31 million contract. Craig suffered a Lisfranc injury on September 4 of that year, which kept him out of the rest of the regular season. He did play in the 2013 World Series. Craig’s performance dropped off precipitously in 2014 and at the trade deadline, he was dealt to the Boston Red Sox along with RHP Joe Kelly for RHP John Lackey.
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