Cardinals’ hot start fueled by the future

Q: What is the current record of the St. Louis Cardinals?

The St. Louis Cardinals currently have a record of 13-8.

Q: Who are the key young players contributing to the Cardinals' success?

Key young players include Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, and Garrett Hampson.

Q: What challenges does the Cardinals' bullpen face this season?

The bullpen has struggled, contributing to a negative run differential and making many games closer than necessary.

Q: How does the Cardinals' young roster impact their performance?

Having a young roster allows for better chemistry and motivation, as players are eager to prove themselves and contribute to the team's success.

Sep 6, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker (18, left) and St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) celebrate their 3-2 win over the San Francisco Giants after Walker doubled to left, scoring Winn and teammate St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Garrett Hampson (not shown) in the bottom of the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images I think it is fair to say that the Cardinals have been a surprise. Certainly to everybody else, but even among more optimistic Cardinals fans, I think their start has been unexpected. Now, it is baseball. Bad teams can have good 20-game stretches and the Cardinals do have a -8 run differential. On the surface, if you had told me the Cardinals would be 13-8 with a -8 run differential, I don’t think it would be THAT surprising. What is perhaps more surprising is that it looks a little more real than one might assume. Sure, the Cardinals aren’t going to go 100-62 (what 13-8 is on pace for), and I question the sustainability of them playing this well of course. But I genuinely think they look like kind of a good team, with the exception of the bullpen. The bullpen is why the run differential is negative. They are lucky to be 13-8, because they keep winning the close games, but they’re also close games because the bullpen keeps making them close games. From a long-term standpoint, this is best case scenario. When the Cardinals are officially in “We’re trying to win” territory, there’s a good chance none of the members of this bullpen will be here. That’s the nature of bullpens. Basically, regardless of how this season ends up turning out, it has stopped feeling like a rebuild for me. Unlike the bullpen, the vast majority of their current lineup will still be here when the Cardinals are trying to win officially. You’re not supposed to have that part figured out already. “It doesn’t really feel like a rebuild,” Masyn Winn said. “Obviously we got rid of some of our big names, but I mean we still have a good young core of guys. Those are guys we can build around. I’m hoping I can be here long enough to see the benefits of this transition. There’s four or five guys that could come out and just have a crazy year. They do that, other guys do what they’re supposed to do, and we’re right there. It’s not like we were 20 games under .500 last year, we were close.” And this is something Chaim Bloom has been very clear about in interviews. They’re not writing this year off. Things could happen to speed this up. They simply are putting the long-term first, second, and third. Which means we won’t see bullpen help except internally. “There is on some level even understanding – and I’ve tried to be very clear about this – that we are not prioritizing short term success over what needs to happen in long-term,” Bloom said. “Even with that, my mindset is such that you’re never going to stop trying to win and there is some way by which you will always assess where you are by the standings.” Having a young team and no expectations can be a huge benefit. There’s probably no egos, they understand the Cardinals will give them a legit shot, and they’re all fighting for their career. “There are a lot of young guys who are hungry trying to make a name for themselves but also to bring a bunch of winning games back to St. Louis, like that’s what we’re trying to do,” JJ Wetherholt said. “You can feel that as a young guy.” It’s also helpful that everyone in the starting lineup is between 23 and 27 years old. In the starting rotation, everyone is between 25 and 28. “I think everyone being the same age is honestly helpful,” said. “We’re all in similar stages of our lives and we have a similar goal. That’s what’s going to bring us together and propel us to being successful, just having that chemistry. I think it might be easier to build that chemistry.” It’s the kind of youth that makes 27-year-old the equivalent of the grizzled veteran on the team, even though he’s only had two full seasons under his belt. But he was given a similar chance to what a good number of young guys will get, so they will probably listen. “I’m still trying to make adjustments in this league, so any of my experience that I can give to these guys and kind of show them the way or make their adjustment a little easier and seamless, that’s what I want to do,” Burleson said. The Cardinals have some sort of given themselves a scrappy underdog status, and it’s not totally undeserved. But they were not expecting to blow teams away. “We’re not going to be the long ball team,” Winn said. “We all know that. We’re going to go out there and be scrappy. I’m actually excited.” They’re actually tied for 8th in homers, so I’m guessing they’ve hit more homers so far than Winn expected. Although I’m also sure he expected to have a homer by now too I would assume. But the players had some expectation of winning, certainly competing in most games and not being an easy win for anyone. “If there’s a standard set early and we can all abide by it – it’s not like rules or anything – there’s a certain way Cardinals play baseball and if we can all do it, it’ll work itself out,” Burleson said. “I think that’s the way you kind of get these guys together. You set a standard and you all kind of buy into it.” You can tell communication in the organization is better, because Burleson says something like this before Bloom says this. “Most players, especially young players, come into this hoping to establish themselves and hoping to be a part of something for a long time,” Bloom said. “I think it’s healthy, especially in an organization like this, when people are really looking at ‘what is that standard I’m expected to meet?’ in order to be a part of this.” That can’t possibly be a coincidence. The message is getting passed down. You lay down what you think a player can do, you give them the tools and importantly the space to be able to do it, stick to the process, and things should work in your favor. And in keeping with that theme, the process on a broader scale dictates to stick to the plan. Okay the season is going better than expected – so far – but it’s not time to change the plans. As weird as it sounds, there’s a bigger goal than doing well this particular season. Yes, it’s going to fun if this season does go well, but winning as many games as possible this year is not actually the goal. “With respect to that bigger goal, regardless of the standings, regardless of what the win total, you want to see that core continue to take shape, continue to progress,” Bloom said. “I would like to be able to look up at the end of the 2026 season and feel like that picture of what that group looks like and what it will continue to look like, whether that’s stuff that happens here at the major league, stuff that happens throughout the system, even stuff behind the curtain in the organization that’s going to be necessary for us to succeed over time and make really good acquisitions and really smart baseball decisions over time that is further ahead than where it was.” The best part about the Cardinals being 13-8 is not that they’re 13-8. But that so far, the core does appear to be taking shape. Jordan Walker has catapulted himself into the core. somehow has disappointed with a .378 OBP, but his expected stats are waay better. Alec Burleson has more walks than strikeouts, which I would never think possible in a 95-game sample. After yesterday’s game, Masyn Winn is completely back with a 98 wRC+ and a lower BABIP. Sure, the rest of the outfield not named Walker could be going better, and sure has been a mixed bag. Only Gorman really has the potential to be core though among this group and I’m not convinced he’s a part of the future plans even if he does bounce back. But things seem to be moving in the right direction. “Honestly, I think the fans should be pretty excited,” Winn said. “It might take a year, might take two, might be this year, but we’re heading in the right direction.” And that’s what this year is about. Moving in the right direction. Identifying the future and then most likely shed the pieces that aren’t a part of that future for prospects, in other words, you’re trading for the future. The buzz is there. Just in my personal life, the attitude among the fanbase has certainly shifted. I don’t think the vibes have been this good since the 2022 season. The record very obviously helps. But they were 33-25 at one point last year. It was nothing like this. So far, it hasn’t translated to attendance, although there hasn’t been a drop. “If we’re doing our job and we’re doing it well, I think fans are going to show up,” Winn said. I would love to find out.