It's Time for Predictions: Who Gets the Nod for Cardinals' MVP, Cy Young and Comeback Player in 2026?

Before the Clydesdales hit the warning track at Busch Stadium, before Ozzie, Tony and Willie – first names only needed in baseball-crazed St. Louis – don their red jackets and before Matthew Liberatore’s first pitch of his first Opening Day assignment, there is just enough time to offer up some predictions for the Cardinals’ 2026 season.

Understand this now, the season is ahead will be downright unfamiliar for many of the fans packing the seats on Opening Day. Cardinals’ fans used to witnessing All-Stars all over the field and the franchise fighting for playoff contention and a potential 12th World Series crown could be looking at a shock to their system.

For the first time in more than three decades, the Cardinals are embarking on a full rebuild where the focus will be more on development than winning. Losing 100 games is more likely than winning a World Series, although the youthful Cards likely have more than enough talent to avoid the ignominy of a triple-digit total in the loss column.

There are no more half measures like in 2024 and ’25, when the Cardinals hung onto established veterans around their young core, but still weren’t good enough to reach the playoffs. Now, under the able leadership of President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom, a rebuild is in the works. Please pardon the dust around Busch Stadium while the Cards let Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman play their struggles, they try and get 500 at bats for prized rookie JJ Wetherholt and they likely promote prospects such as Josh Baez, Quinn Mathews and Luis Gastelum at some point in the summer. As for veterans Dustin May, Ryne Stanek and JoJo Romero – fans would be wise to not fall in love with them quickly because they will likely be trade chips dealt away for more promising prospects before Aug. 1.

With all that in mind, here are some predictions for 2026. Agree? Disagree? Join the Roundtable Sports Community and let’s debate your selections.

MVP: Alec Burleson. Fresh off his best MLB season and a Silver Slugger award, a maturing Burleson is the pick here because he seems poised to hit 20 home runs and drive in 100 runs as the Cards’ thumper in the middle of the lineup. Burleson, who has excellent bat-to-ball skills, made big strides in 2025 by cutting his chase rates down and picking pitches he can do damage on. The fear, of course, is that pitchers will pitch around Burleson in 2026 if the Cards can’t properly protect him in the lineup.

ALSO IN THE MIX: Ivan Herrera, Masyn Winn and Wetherholt

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nolan Gorman. After four mostly strikeout-filled seasons, Gorman will get every chance to prove that he can be an everyday player and a 30-homer threat for the Cardinals in 2026. Nolan Arenado is no longer around to block Gorman at third base, where he must prove that he can move better and throw more accurately than he did in a cameo at that spot last August. Gorman blasted three homers in Spring Training and his swing looked more controlled and on balance. He and the Cards are hoping this is finally the season when he hits it big.

ALSO IN THE MIX: Jordan Walker, Victor Scott II, Andre Pallante

CY YOUNG: Dustin May. Fully healthy for the first time since 2020, May looks to have regained the intimidating command on a fastball that sat at a 97.6 mph average in 2022. Since 2021, May has missed time with two Tommy John surgeries on his right elbow and a scary esophageal tear that cost him another season. With his weight back around 225 pounds, May regularly threw fastballs in the 95-96 mph range during Spring Training. That’s a big jump over 2025, when he was lacking strength and his average fastball dipped to 94.8 mph (53rd percentile, per Baseball Savant). He signed a one-year, make-good deal with the Cards, so he has plenty of motivation to pitch well in 2026.

ALSO IN THE MIX: Liberatore, Michael McGreevy. 

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: JJ Wetherholt. This category, of course, is a no-brainer. Wetherholt is completely comfortable on the game’s biggest stage, and he will wow fans with his ability to do so many things well. While he’ll likely never be a big home run hitter, he does possess an innate ability to hit the ball to all fields – a trait that should allow him to rack up doubles and triples. He also has the kind of mature temperament that should allow him to ride out the inevitable lows that will come during a rookie season. But if he puts together the kind of season he is seemingly capable of, he could become the first Cardinal to win the NL Rookie of the Year award since Albert Pujols in 2001.

ALSO IN THE MIX: Nathan Church

BEST RELIEVER: Matt Svanson. JoJo Romero is coming off a career year, and Riley O’Brien will likely get the bulk of the save opportunities. But it is Svanson who is the below-the-radar pitcher who could be the closer by seasons end. All he did in his rookie season was go 4-0 with a 1.94 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings of work. Foes hit just .157 off his sinker and .127 off his sweeper. And a 96.8 mph fastball (86th percentile), a 29.1 K rate (88th percentile) and a 35.9 percent hard-hit rate (83rd percentile) suggest the stuff of a future closer.

ALSO IN THE MIX: Romero, O’Brien

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