The St. Louis Cardinals are not officially out of the playoff race, but with a four game deficit for the third Wild Card spot and two teams ahead of them, it is more likely than not the Cardinals will miss the postseason for the third straight season. However, with six games to go, there are still things we can watch for as fans begin to look towards 2026 and beyond.

As someone who is excited for every Cardinals game, I always watch with eyes on something I want to see, rather than just the box score or the end result. Even with how disappointing this season has been, there are still plenty of storylines that came across at multiple points of the year, as well as many others that will go unanswered until Chaim Bloom fully gets his hand on the organization.

Storylines for the last week of the year

Chase for .500

The Cardinals head on a six-game roadtrip to end the season and will start with three games in San Francisco. Facing a Giants team that is one game ahead of the Cardinals, they will remain a tough competitor, especially with a revitalized Justin Verlander on the mound to kick off the series. Sitting at 76-80, the Cardinals will have to go 5-1 against San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs just to finish at the .500 mark. The Cubs are locked into position as the top Wild Card team, so they could choose to rest some of their players, but avoiding another losing season will be a tough task for St. Louis.

Nolan Arenado

At this point, it is pretty clear that Nolan Arenado will be playing the 2026 season in a different uniform than the Cardinals one he has donned since arriving via trade in 2021. While it is fair enough to argue about his performance during his time at Busch, the trade has to be seen as a win when looking at what the Cardinals gave up and creating a sense of consistency at the hot corner. He received a standing ovation after being inserted into the starting lineup a few minutes before game time, only to be taken out due to “needing a day off”, according to manager Oliver Marmol.

When he was not in the lineup, rather than point fingers at Marmol for how ridiculous it was that Arenado was not starting, I figured we would see the third baseman receive a pinch-hit appearance so he could receive one big ovation from the crowd. However, he was in the lineup and removed before a pitch was thrown which makes me wonder if he is a little more broken down than just needing a day off. While he is a fierce competitor, there is nothing left to play for team-wise or personally, so him taking the rest of the season off would not be a surprise. In his absence throughout this year, Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese have taken the majority of the playing time at third base. Next year, it figures to be an open competition for that job between those two, JJ Wetherholt, and potentially others.

Catchers

This may be one that we have to track all the way through Spring Training and even into the 2026 regular season. Coming into the year, there figured to be a split between Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages, with Herrera getting a majority of a near-even share of playing time. Herrera, though, struggled with throwing the ball along with a couple injuries, so he was moved out from behind the plate early in the season. That brought Pages into a starter role, one that he may or may not be qualified for, but he held his own for the most part. It was recently announced, however, that Herrera would be undergoing minor arm surgery in the offseason to address his throwing concerns with the expectation he would be back behind the plate next year, thanks to his massive offensive ceiling.

Herrera behind the plate would do wonders for the lineup but cloud some things further down the roster. Jimmy Crooks III was the starting catcher down in Memphis and was promoted to the big leagues in September when Yohel Pozo went down with a concussion. While splitting time with Pages, Crooks has played in 11 games but struggled against major league pitching as he put up an .094 batting average while striking out over 36% of the time without drawing a walk. With Herrera hopefully being healthy enough to catch, Crooks may find himself back in Memphis to start the year.

Behind Crooks, though, are potential catchers of the future in top-100 prospects Leonardo Bernal and Rainiel Rodriguez. Bernal, who I covered more in an episode of Cardinals on My Time, is a 21-year-old switch-hitter and has progressed well with a nice season in Double-A. If Crooks is to go down to Memphis, it would be tough to split time between him and Bernal so he could be ticketed for starting another season in Springfield. Not far behind, Rainiel Rodriguez tore through the lower levels of the minors and soared up prospect rankings thanks to hitting 20 homers and totaled almost as many walks as strikeouts as an 18-year-old. The catching situation is very fluid and expect all of these names to come up in some capacity during the offseason.

Chaim Bloom

What a lot of fans, and I’m sure media, is looking forward to seeing and hearing what incoming decision maker Chaim Bloom has planned for the future of the organization. While Bloom has had his hands on this year’s trade deadline along with some other minor decisions, he will be the main man in charge as soon as this season ends.

Those decisions will be tough as the organization feels this is going to be the true beginning of a multi-year rebuild while also working around a potential work stoppage for the 2027 season. Bloom will be tasked with trimming payroll and making personnel moves around the 40-man roster that could end with him trading some fan favorites or some players with star potential. It would be nice if he would make a public appearance before the season ends, but we will most likely have to wait until November at least to begin getting some answers.