5 Cardinals entering make-or-break seasons in 2026

St. Louis Cardinals v. Baltimore Orioles | Alyssa Howell/GettyImages

The 2026 season will be one with less pressure for the St. Louis Cardinals. Fans aren’t expecting or demanding a National League Central title. Players will be given more leeway when it comes to development at the highest level of baseball. Management is giving the reins of the team over to young and rising stars on the roster.

However, there is still tremendous pressure on a handful of major leaguers for the Cardinals as they enter a make-or-break year in 2026. For studs like Masyn Winn, Alec Burleson, and Brendan Donovan, the 2026 season is one for growth and building upon previous success. These three, among others, won’t have to necessarily “prove” anything next year. They can continue to develop at a linear rate or stay where they are and still be considered valuable players to the team.

For youngsters like JJ Wetherholt, Victor Scott II, Jimmy Crooks, and Michael McGreevy, to name a few, the 2026 season is one where growth is ideal. If they don’t show improvements, it’s not like they’ll be traded or demoted for long periods of time. Rather, they’ll continue to take their lumps and use the 2026 season as a learning experience.

There is a third group of players as the Cardinals enter their “build” season, and that group is full of players who either need to put up or shut up in 2026.

Lars Nootbaar, Jordan Walker, Andre Pallante, Nolan Gorman, and Ryan Fernandez need to make good on their promise or roster spots to ensure their placement on the Cardinals during the organization’s next competitive window. That window could open in 2027 or 2028, but if these five players don’t make changes or correct their past mistakes, they could find themselves on the outside looking in at that time.

These 5 St. Louis Cardinals players are entering make-or-break territory ahead of the 2026 season.

RHP Ryan Fernandez

The Cardinals selected right-handed pitcher Ryan Fernandez from the Boston Red Sox in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft. Because he was added via the Rule 5 Draft, Fernandez had to remain on the 26-man roster, or his rights would return to Boston.

Fernandez was a pretty reliable reliever in 2024, posting a 3.51 ERA across 66.2 innings. He struck out 71 batters that year, but he walked 32. He was a solid middle-relief guy for much of the 2024 season.

Things were different last year for Fernandez though. Without the protection of the Rule 5 Draft, the Cardinals were able to flex his role and location in 2025. He pitched 34.1 innings for Triple-A Memphis, finishing the year with a 3.12 ERA. He saw his strikeout and walk rates rise last year in the minors, but his 1.240 WHIP was a welcome sight.

Things were much different in the majors for the 27-year-old. He pitched 30.1 innings with the Cardinals last year, finishing the year with a 7.71 ERA. He struck out 34 batters, walked 16, and finished with a 1.714 WHIP. He struggled mightily in the majors, and he was never able to translate his effectiveness in Triple-A to St. Louis last year.

Relievers are often volatile, so Fernandez enters 2026 with something to prove. He needs to prove that he can strike out MLB hitters while limiting walks and hits. If he can’t do that, he could find himself looking for a new employer by the end of the year.

RHP Andre Pallante

Andre Pallante enters the 2026 season as the most seasoned “veteran” on the starting rotation. Dustin May has him beat in service time, but Pallante has thrown 460 career innings to May’s 324. While it may be strange to call a 27-year-old the old man of the rotation, Pallante has that moniker for the Cardinals in 2026.

Pallante enters 2026 as a make-or-break year due to his struggles last year. Up to that point, he had been a solid swingman from 2022-2023 and then a good starting pitcher in 2024. In fact, Pallante was the Cardinals’ best starter from May until the end of the 2024 season. He finished that year with a 3.78 ERA, a 3.71 FIP, and 94 strikeouts across 121.1 innings. One would love more strikeouts in the modern game, but Pallante’s ability to keep the ball on the ground removes the necessity to strike batters out.

The story was much different for Andre in 2025.

He pitched a full slate of 31 games and 162.2 innings. However, he wasn’t very effective throughout the year. He finished with a 5.31 ERA and only 111 strikeouts. He led all of the majors with 12 wild pitches, and he surrendered 21 home runs on the year. His walk rate also climbed slightly, too. 2025 was most certainly a struggle for the right-handed starter.

At Winter Warm Up this past year, Pallante discussed the need to throw more strikes, particularly with his breaking balls and secondary pitches. His strike rate last year was just 55%, a dramatic fall from the 68% he saw in 2024.

Pallante also added a kick-change to his repertoire this offseason. His hope is that this offspeed pitch will help diversify his repertoire and give him better options against all hitters.

After a flurry of offseason trades, the St. Louis Cardinals actually have reasonable pitching depth in the minors, something that hasn’t happened in a decade. Hunter Dobbins, Richard Fitts, Kyle Leahy, and Quinn Mathews will challenge Pallante this spring for a spot in the rotation. Prospects Ixan Henderson and Brycen Mautz could be ready as early as next year to rise to the majors. Injured players such as Tekoah Roby, Tink Hence, and Cooper Hjerpe could be ready by 2027 for their debuts. Brandon Clarke, Tanner Franklin, Nate Dohm, and others could rise quickly and be ready to start in the very near future.

If Andre Pallante wants to secure his rotation spot ahead of the team’s next competitive window, he needs to have a strong 2026 season and prove that he can help solidify a starting pitching staff.

OF Lars Nootbaar

Lars Nootbaar potentially bought himself some time with an offseason surgery to remove Haglund’s deformities from both feet. The hope is that this procedure gives him back his athleticism and keeps him healthy, a trait that has eluded him throughout his career.

However, it’s also time for Nootbaar to go from Statcast darling to MLB All-Star in 2026.

Noot has consistently posted plus exit velocities, bat speed, chase rates, whiff rates, walk rates, hard-hit rates, and expected statistics throughout his career, but he hasn’t been able to get to the next level with his production. He has a career 109 OPS+, which is solid, but it’s always felt like there’s another level to his game that we haven’t seen yet.

Nootbaar played in a career-high 135 games last year while seeing 583 plate appearances. If he can reach those marks next year, it will be another success for the 28-year-old outfielder. He finished the year with career lows in OPS (.686), OPS+ (95), ISO (.128), and wOBA (.304). For a guy who relies on his ability to get on base, Nootbaar simply wasn’t able to do that. Pair that with a drop in power numbers, and you’ll find a below-average MLB hitter.

Nootbaar’s defense isn’t a concern, as he graded out essentially as a neutral defender in the outfield. His injury last year could have been a contributing factor on the defensive side of the game.

The hope is that Nootbaar enters 2026, be it on Opening Day or sometime in April, ready to go and at full health. He could be a very key player for the Cardinals next year, especially if Brendan Donovan is traded. If he can’t make up the gap in production or if he continues to get hurt, 2026 could be his last season as a Cardinal.

Nootbaar is the most veteran position player on the team next year, and with just two more years of control, he needs to prove that he can be a cornerstone player for the Cardinals. Either they extend him or trade him at the deadline for a haul — assuming he’s healthy and effective in the first half of the season.

OF Jordan Walker

Jordan Walker, along with the next player on this list, enters 2026 as one of the most interesting Cardinals to watch. Sure, JJ Wetherholt will be exciting, but Wetherholt doesn’t have the amount of pressure on him that Walker does next year.

Jordan Walker is a former consensus top-10 prospect in baseball. He’s tall, he’s strong, he’s toolsy, and he’s energetic. Walker, for all intents and purposes, is a likable player. However, his production up to this point in his career has left much to be desired.

Walker has a career .240/.302/.378 line for an OPS+ of 88. He’s been a below-average hitter in his career, and he’s been a very bad defender. This combination has made him unpalatable at times.

Last year was Walker’s worst year at the plate; he slashed .215/.278/.306 with just six home runs in 111 games. He also struck out a career-high 31.8% of the time. He fell victim to low-and-away breaking balls from pitchers far too often, and his strikeouts rose as a result. His defense also took a step back last year after seeing improvements in 2024. Perhaps getting his bat in order will allow him to relax in the field.

Jordan Walker needs to make huge strides at the plate next year to prove that he belongs in the outfield for the Cardinals’ next competitive window. He’s still so young, and he has four years of team control, including 2026. If he can develop as a right-handed hitter in the heart of the Cardinals lineup, he can solidify his spot beyond this year. It’s a crucial season for both Jordan Walker and the Cardinals in 2026.

Walker will enter arbitration next year in his age-25 season. He’s still very young, but his career is starting to age on. He’s been worth -2.7 bWAR for his career so far, an embarrassing number for a player of his size, aptitude, and ability. It’s high time for Jordan Walker to make good on his prospect status and be a force in the heart of the lineup. If he can’t, he could find himself being traded or DFA’d by the end of the year to make way for other outfield prospects like Joshua Baez.

2B/3B Nolan Gorman

Nolan Gorman is in his first season of arbitration in the 2026 season, and he’s earning $2.655 million in his first go. Gorman, 25, will have a full-time spot available to him for the first time since 2023 after Nolan Arenado’s departure. He’ll have to share time with JJ Wetherholt and Brendan Donovan (for now), but he’ll play five out of six games each week more than likely. This is his opportunity to show that he can be a regular major leaguer.

Gorman is a power-first lefty slugger; he slugged .478 in 2023 to go with 27 home runs, most certainly his offensive peak as a player. Since then, he’s seen his slugging percentage fall to just .370 last year and his ISO plummet from .241 in 2023 to .165 last year.

Nolan Gorman saw an increase in his on-base percentage last year, and he whiffed at a near career-low rate (34.6%. He swapped power for on base, and it worked for a time for him last year. However, he wasn’t a productive offensive player at the plate in 2025.

There will be plenty of opportunities for Nolan Gorman next year at the plate even if Brendan Donovan stays and JJ Wetherholt starts with the club on Opening Day. He will see plenty of DH at bats, and Donovan’s positional flexibility would open up playing time in the infield for the left-handed hitter. It is crucial that he takes advantage of these chances and shows he can be a potent hitter once again.

Considering the fact that Gorman is now in arbitration, it’s time he shows that he can be a competent hitter for long stretches of time. He was able to improve against southpaws last year, and he’s been an average hitter against all pitchers for his career. Now, he needs to cut back down on his strikeout rate while tapping back into the power that made him such an enticing hitter in 2023. The Cardinals have lacked a true power hitter since Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in 2022. Gorman has the profile to fill that void.

If he can’t produce at rates comparable to his sophomore season, Nolan Gorman could find himself the odd man out with Thomas Saggese and JJ Wetherholt taking priority over him in Oli Marmol’s lineups next year.