St Louis Cardinals in 2026 After the Injury Bug Bites: How Can They Finish the Season On a +Note?

I’m feeling in the mood for something different than what I usually do. I want to go full on listicle. A list article. Or maybe I just need to randomly ruminate?

I have been turning my back on the Cardinals games mid-game over the last few weeks. Especially it seems on Tuesday nights when I usually write… I suppose there were downward trends in June and July that led to our trade deadline results, but now that the pantry is stripped bare of starting pitching, it has become easier to not watch the games every inning.

Part of the downturn in entertainment value was certainly due to the offense not being able to do amazing comeback wins all season, but I think we all saw that one coming.

Which means I am not as apt to bother to go see them live, because of probabilities and whatnot (and intense heat indices). Money is always an issue, but it’s easier to spend time and currency on teams that don’t throw pitches that can be absolutely destroyed, and offenses that offend a little more often. I’ll probably go see some September baseball, because this is still a fun team to watch, but…

The bullpen is what it is at this point. Not the worst, but a nailbiter every time. It wouldn’t be so bad if our closer was a little more shutdown, but he would fit in on many teams as closer. This bullpen will however randomly give up games. And that alone will make it tough to be above .500, a make games not as easy to watch. It also drives down team morale of course, but no one can say how much that could matter, ephemera and random thoughts…

And! Just as we were certain this was one of the healthiest teams ever, nearly impervious… Welp!

The last week or so happened. And it was a doozy.

Winn fractured thumb 10 day IL retroactive to Saturday: should be out another week https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/news/masyn-winn-placed-on-injured-list-nolan-gorman-recalled

Everson Pereira Aug 23 left hand contusion, indeterminate return date

Hunter Dobbins news seems impending at the time of this writing, stay tuned… but HunDo has a right flexor strain! oof… he is on the 15 day Injured List.

Marmol not concerned about Pallante‘s elbow inflammation https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/news/andre-pallante-placed-on-injured-list-with-elbow-inflammation expect the defacto staff ace back in early September at the soonest.

Max Rajcic underwent UCL reconstruction surgery, almost certainly done for the season.

And that’s your absolutely fantasticly wonderful injury rundown for August 26, 2026. Smdh.

Ok, what would I like to see the rest of the season, realistic expectations, if we are destined not to make the postseason?

• JJ Wetherholt turns 17 HR into 20 HR. If JJ hits 20 HR, keeps doing what he’s doing with the elite defense and all… I think it will make the decision a little tougher for Rookie of the Year voters. Imagine an elite run prevention middle infielder that also hits 20+ HR a year and steals some bases? Of course if he can somehow hit the 20/20 club, that will help even more. What would bolster his Rookie of the Year campaign the most would be if he’s 20/20 and also hits .250 BA or more, which is still possible, if unlikely. But it would create a little more buzz…

• Ivan Herrera is in a similar boat, because Wetherholt and himself have low BABIP and probably are better hitters than what their statlines look like. As absurd as it is, the true story on Herrera’s 2026 season revolves around something he cannot control… pitchers’ aptitude to hit him with a pitch. Only Steve Evans over 100 years ago has been hit more than Herrera, who has been hit 27 times so far. The all time Cardinals HBP record is 31. He might tie it, at least…

• Alec Burleson: if he just keeps doing what he’s doing, he will get a few MVP votes. And that’s good enough!

• Jordan Walker: 30 HR… he is only 3 away. He should reach the milestone! He is 24 years old. He almost certainly will reach 100 RBI, as will Burleson (both are just short by a few RBI); to add to that, he only needs two stolen bases to make it to 20. 30HR/100RBI/20SB guy!

• Josh Baez, etc: if any of these players work out, that would be nice. Gorman is at the end of his rope, while Baez has certainly had an exciting beginning… will they K too much?

• some may have chagrin about Masyn Winn but he has maintained the same OBP and run prevention that he has become known for. and that’s a fact, jack. And to back that up he is on pace to have his best RBI total of this career, if he can come back from the thumb fracture relatively quickly.

• if the team can at least stay in the wild card race a few more weeks, I think that will advance the young team in a variety of ways, mostly experiential and mental, but still valuable. Confidence and perseverance are both key. If they narrowly miss the postseason despite injuries, that sure sets the mental table for next year, whatever happes with 2027.

JJ Wetherholt turns 17 HR into 20 HR. If JJ hits 20 HR, keeps doing what he’s doing with the elite defense and all… I think it will make the decision a little tougher for Rookie of the Year voters. Imagine an elite run prevention middle infielder that also hits 20+ HR a year and steals some bases? Of course if he can somehow hit the 20/20 club, that will help even more. What would bolster his Rookie of the Year campaign the most would be if he’s 20/20 and also hits .250 BA or more, which is still possible, if unlikely. But it would create a little more buzz…

Ivan Herrera is in a similar boat, because Wetherholt and himself have low BABIP and probably are better hitters than what their statlines look like. As absurd as it is, the true story on Herrera’s 2026 season revolves around something he cannot control… pitchers’ aptitude to hit him with a pitch. Only Steve Evans over 100 years ago has been hit more than Herrera, who has been hit 27 times so far. The all time Cardinals HBP record is 31. He might tie it, at least…

Alec Burleson: if he just keeps doing what he’s doing, he will get a few MVP votes. And that’s good enough!

Jordan Walker: 30 HR… he is only 3 away. He should reach the milestone! He is 24 years old. He almost certainly will reach 100 RBI, as will Burleson (both are just short by a few RBI); to add to that, he only needs two stolen bases to make it to 20. 30HR/100RBI/20SB guy!

Josh Baez, etc: if any of these players work out, that would be nice. Gorman is at the end of his rope, while Baez has certainly had an exciting beginning… will they K too much?

some may have chagrin about Masyn Winn but he has maintained the same OBP and run prevention that he has become known for. and that’s a fact, jack. And to back that up he is on pace to have his best RBI total of this career, if he can come back from the thumb fracture relatively quickly.

if the team can at least stay in the wild card race a few more weeks, I think that will advance the young team in a variety of ways, mostly experiential and mental, but still valuable. Confidence and perseverance are both key. If they narrowly miss the postseason despite injuries, that sure sets the mental table for next year, whatever happes with 2027.

Ultimately I would like to see the tides to turn and have this team continue to threaten for a postseason spot, just to keep things interesting to watch. But if they continue to crash and burn, there’s always the draft pick.

1995 year in music, continued from last week, I have to get my heavy metal classics in… the first thing that I noticed in my research was that 1995 featured far fewer heavy metal releases, and the quality had started to dwindle. 1990-1994 were just totally stacked with just as many high-quality heavy metal albums as other genres. By 1995, however, heavy metal movements ran out of gas at least to some extent, with many advances and new styles having already happened. But there were still some absolute top-tier classics that stood out in 1995 Heavy Metal, so this week I bring you a Top 10 for 1995 heavy metal releases!

1. Zeni Geva – ‘Freedom Bondage’ this fantastically insane, punishing metal/noise rock album stole the show in 1995. I got to see them live in Davenport, Iowa one night in the 1990’s, and it was one of the most intense shows you could ever imagine! One of Steve Albini’s favorite bands, by the way… This album has to be heard to be believed, but it is full of heavy ultra-fuzzed-out guitars within a super tight rhythmic context, totaling ultimate rock n roll sonic devastation done tastefully (Japan) I could only find this one on youtube music as a playlist, but you can find the individual songs on youtube

2. Meshuggah – ‘Destroy, Erase, Improve’ early Meshuggah was death thrash crossover math metal insanity. So many hooks! In a somewhat off year in heavy metal, Meshuggah reinvented the wheel and created a new paradigm. There was an entire new genre titled ‘djent’ invented for this band! (Sweden)

3. Crowbar – ‘Time Heals Nothing’ New Orleans’ Crowbar is one of the heavyweight heavy metal bands of all time. This is, in my humble opinion, their best release. Or, at the least, their darkest, heaviest one. And by that I mean the lyrical content mixed with the crushing emotional tone and feel of the music on this collection of songs. You will just have to hear it to believe it! (New Orleans)

4. Death – ‘Symbolic’ it is difficult for me to put this at , after seeing it overall on one site… but it is not my favorite Death album. It might have the best album cover, but… while this album is a set-in-stone classic, I have concluded that it is still at least somewhat overrated, compared to the rest of their discography. (Tampa Bay)

5. Fleurety – ‘Min Tid Skal Komme’ the hidden gem I uncovered in my research, occult maybe… if you want to hear one of the more talented black metal genre releases, a forgotten part of the past… this is worth your time! A lot is going on here… you have to hear this one. Multi-genre mastery! (Norway)

6. Morbid Angel – ‘Domination’ Tampa Bay was already on the map for a while in the death metal department, and Morbid Angel were veterans there by this point… this was their last album on Giant records. The Domination release also marked the end of the original David Vincent led era of Morbid Angel with some wicked fun backstory. Overall, it wasn’t quite as good as the prior releases, but it still had some huge hits and was a suiting finale for that first era; no regrets.

7. Dissection – ‘Storm of the Light’s Bane’ similar to Fleurety, this is one of the better old school black metal releases I have ever heard. It seems that the genre was entering it’s heyday at the time! Good stuff… what I think puts this Dissection release over some of the more obvious bands is how good the production sounds, especially for the time, top notch! I am no expert but I could see this album putting black metal on the map for many people. (Sweden)

8. Hieronymus Bosch – ‘The Human Abstract’ this album probably deserves to be ranked higher, because what I am discovering is just flat out mindbending… progressive death metal! Didn’t sound like anything else at the time. (Russia)

9. Mortem – ‘Demon Tales’ hooky blackened death metal! (Peru)

10. Down – ‘NOLA’ and to round out the top 10 a stoner metal supergroup classic encompassing the bands Corrosion of Conformity, 1/2 of Crowbar, and the singer of Pantera. (New Orleans, obviously)

Zeni Geva – ‘Freedom Bondage’ this fantastically insane, punishing metal/noise rock album stole the show in 1995. I got to see them live in Davenport, Iowa one night in the 1990’s, and it was one of the most intense shows you could ever imagine! One of Steve Albini’s favorite bands, by the way… This album has to be heard to be believed, but it is full of heavy ultra-fuzzed-out guitars within a super tight rhythmic context, totaling ultimate rock n roll sonic devastation done tastefully (Japan) I could only find this one on youtube music as a playlist, but you can find the individual songs on youtube

Meshuggah – ‘Destroy, Erase, Improve’ early Meshuggah was death thrash crossover math metal insanity. So many hooks! In a somewhat off year in heavy metal, Meshuggah reinvented the wheel and created a new paradigm. There was an entire new genre titled ‘djent’ invented for this band! (Sweden)

Crowbar – ‘Time Heals Nothing’ New Orleans’ Crowbar is one of the heavyweight heavy metal bands of all time. This is, in my humble opinion, their best release. Or, at the least, their darkest, heaviest one. And by that I mean the lyrical content mixed with the crushing emotional tone and feel of the music on this collection of songs. You will just have to hear it to believe it! (New Orleans)

Death – ‘Symbolic’ it is difficult for me to put this at , after seeing it overall on one site… but it is not my favorite Death album. It might have the best album cover, but… while this album is a set-in-stone classic, I have concluded that it is still at least somewhat overrated, compared to the rest of their discography. (Tampa Bay)

Fleurety – ‘Min Tid Skal Komme’ the hidden gem I uncovered in my research, occult maybe… if you want to hear one of the more talented black metal genre releases, a forgotten part of the past… this is worth your time! A lot is going on here… you have to hear this one. Multi-genre mastery! (Norway)

Morbid Angel – ‘Domination’ Tampa Bay was already on the map for a while in the death metal department, and Morbid Angel were veterans there by this point… this was their last album on Giant records. The Domination release also marked the end of the original David Vincent led era of Morbid Angel with some wicked fun backstory. Overall, it wasn’t quite as good as the prior releases, but it still had some huge hits and was a suiting finale for that first era; no regrets.

Dissection – ‘Storm of the Light’s Bane’ similar to Fleurety, this is one of the better old school black metal releases I have ever heard. It seems that the genre was entering it’s heyday at the time! Good stuff… what I think puts this Dissection release over some of the more obvious bands is how good the production sounds, especially for the time, top notch! I am no expert but I could see this album putting black metal on the map for many people. (Sweden)

Hieronymus Bosch – ‘The Human Abstract’ this album probably deserves to be ranked higher, because what I am discovering is just flat out mindbending… progressive death metal! Didn’t sound like anything else at the time. (Russia)

Mortem – ‘Demon Tales’ hooky blackened death metal! (Peru)

Down – ‘NOLA’ and to round out the top 10 a stoner metal supergroup classic encompassing the bands Corrosion of Conformity, 1/2 of Crowbar, and the singer of Pantera. (New Orleans, obviously)