Despite being in a rebuild, the Cardinals will be featured several times on Apple TV this year.
The St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of a top-to-bottom rebuild and aren't likely to compete for a playoff spot in 2026.
Despite this, both St. Louis and general baseball fans will have an opportunity to see the Cardinals on a national stage.
MLB released the schedule for Friday Night Baseball games, which will be aired on the Apple TV streaming service, as they have for the last several seasons.
St. Louis will have two Friday Night Baseball games this year: one the road against the San Diego Padres at 8:45 p.m. CT on May 8 at Petco Park in San Diego and another road game against the Kansas City Royals at 7:15 p.m. CT on June 19 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
Both teams the Cardinals are scheduled to face are expected to be playoff contenders in the National League (Padres) and American League (Royals), respectively.
Despite St. Louis not being anticipated to be competitive this season, there are several interesting factors for national viewers to pay attention do under the bright lights of Friday night:
Can JJ Wetherholt live to expectations
The Cardinals' top overall prospect and the No. 5 prospect in baseball (per MLB Pipeline), JJ Wetherholt, is expected to break camp with the team.
FanGraphs' roster resource projects Wetherholt to begin the season as St. Louis' starting second baseman.
This spring, Wetherholt has slashed .263/.500/.579 with a 1.079 OPS in 10 Grapefruit League games and has hit two home runs with six RBIs. He's also stolen four bases in six opportunities.
Wetherholt currently has the third-best odds to win the National League Rookie of the Year (+500) according to BetMGM.
Can Jordan Walker bounce back?
Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker has struggled to find the same level of performance he had his rookie year in 2023.
In his first year in the majors, Walker slashed .276/.342/.445 with a .787 OPS in 117 games and hit 19 doubles, two triples and 16 home runs with 51 RBIs.
Last season, Walker slashed .215/.278/.306 with a .584 OPS and hit 13 doubles, a triple and six homers with 41 RBIs in 111 games.
Walker is still only 23-years-old and can be a featured player for St. Louis in the future if he bounces back.
What will the starting rotation look like?
Both Apple TV games for the Cardinals will take place before the MLB trade deadline, which means any moves the team makes as it pertains to the starting rotation will still be developing.
St. Louis brought in Dustin May, a potential trade candidate at the deadline, this offseason on a one-year deal and is moving Kyle Leahy from the bullpen to the starting rotation.
Matthew Liberatore, another reliever-turned-starter, will also enter his second full season on the rotation and could be the team's Opening Day starter.
The organization also has several top 100 pitching prospects waiting in the wings: Liam Doyle and Jurrangelo Cijntje.
Ideally, the Cardinals will be able to find a consistent enough rotation that both performs and fits in with their future plans. But there will likely be a few iterations before it gets to that point.
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