The St. Louis Cardinals finished the 2025 season 78-84, missing the postseason and prompting a rebuild. The 2026 season has been a little more enjoyable for the fanbase and the organization. While a rebuild typically means a decline in performance, the Cardinals got to see players like Alec Burleson, JJ Wetherholt and Jordan Walker take some important steps forward, which has set the stage for an exciting future.
However, with a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, they secured their second consecutive losing season. The Cardinals had not recorded back-to-back losing seasons since 1994-95 and hadn’t done it in a full schedule since 1958-59.
Solly Hemus, Vinegar Bend Mizell and Gino Cimolli are officially off the hook.
St. Louis Cardinals Record Back-to-Back Losing Seasons
The Cardinals recorded their first losing season since 2007 in 2023, going 71-91. They did put together a winning season in 2024 when they recorded an 83-79 record. Now, they have recorded three losing seasons in the last four years.
Ultimately though, it’s the reality of a rebuild. The Cardinals traded away a lot of players last offseason. Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan were all moved. By all accounts, the Cardinals should have been a lot worse than they have been.
Now, the worst they can do is finish with one fewer win this year than they did in 2025. It certainly isn’t the worst thing that could have happened this year. The Cardinals could have lost even more games.
For a while, St. Louis was outperforming its expectations. They were even nine games over .500 in June, but they came back down to earth in July and finally fell below .500. Things didn’t get any better in the month of August, and September has certainly been a disappointing month.
But one thing this team had that the 2025 team didn’t was the ability to punch back after getting down. The Cardinals were an exciting team, finding interesting ways to win games early in the year and coming from behind.
On opening day, St. Louis overcame a 7-1 deficit to pull off a win against the Tampa Bay Rays, who would go on to win the American League East. They even managed to beat some good teams along the way.
The Cardinals won both of their series against the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers this season. They also managed to win series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees, all of whom have punched their tickets to the postseason.
They made life difficult for other contenders as well, so by and large, 2026 can still be viewed as a success.
St. Louis Cardinals’ Upcoming Schedule to Close 2026
With the Cardinals eliminated and guaranteed to finish below .500, they’ll head to American Family Field to take on the Milwaukee Brewers and close out the 2026 season. Milwaukee has still yet to secure the top seed in the postseason despite having already won the National League Central.
The Cardinals have an opportunity to play the role of spoiler against their division rivals by winning at least one of the three games over the weekend. They enter the series 77-82, but still have something to play for.
Cardinals Achieve Unfortunate History for First Time Since 1959