I am a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan (now in my sixth decade, thank you very much), but I’m also a baseball fan. Thanks to the massive overhaul that President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom successfully kicked off during the offseason, there are many former St. Louis Cardinals on new teams and several of them have found renewed success. The baseball fan that I am makes me want to keep up with these guys as they move forward with their careers.
A quick disclaimer: I don’t want to be like a creepy
ex who just can’t stop thinking about their former partner. I briefly did a check in on most of these players very early in the season and this is my last planned revisit to see how they’re doing. I mean this to be my “fare thee well” former St. Louis Cardinals check-in finale.
Nolan Arenado – Arizona Diamondbacks
Nolan Arenado has not suddenly become the 2022 version of himself that was a MVP runner-up. However, he’s trending back to the positive offensive contributor that he still believes he can be. Here’s his 2026 stat line as of today:
Batting Average (AVG): .273
Home Runs (HR): 6
Runs Batted In (RBI): 21
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS): .801
Games Played (G): 43
Nolan got off to a very slow start in Arizona as he was under the .200 mark for the first couple weeks of the season, but he reportedly made a pre-game adjustment to his routine and is now enjoying a mini-career renaissance. Over his last 100 plate appearances, he hit 6 home runs and posted a formidable .998 OPS. Nice. His defense has gone from being elite to just barely above average.
Willson Contreras – Boston Red Sox
Willson Contreras is his usual fiery self in Boston and his offensive numbers have been decent for the Red Sox. Here’s his 2026 stat line as of today:
Batting Average (AVG): .253
On-Base Percentage (OBP): .362
Slugging Percentage (SLG): .468
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS): .830
Home Runs (HR): 9
Runs Batted In (RBI): 25
Willson’s first base defense now ranks among the 98th percentile which has been a big boost for a Red Sox team that badly needs it. Unfortunately, Willson took a 94 mph fastball to the hand in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Red Sox are hoping he’ll avoid the injured list since the x-rays came back negative.
Brendan Donovan – Seattle Mariners
Brendan Donovan got off to a spectacular start in Seattle. Unfortunately, he’s been dealing with injuries that have limited his playing time for the Mariners. Here’s his current stat line:
Games: 25
Home Runs: 3
RBI: 8
Batting Average (AVG): .274
On-Base Percentage (OBP): .386
Slugging Percentage (SLG): .452
OPS: .839
A few days ago, Brendan went back to the IL with a groin strain just 10 days after he was activated from a previous IL stint. He’s been the Brendan Donovan we enjoyed in St. Louis…when he’s healthy which has not consistently been the case so far in 2026.
Sonny Gray – Boston Red Sox
After a poor Spring Training, Sonny Gray is off to a solid start for the Boston Red Sox. Here’s his stat line for the 2026 season so far:
Record: 4-1
ERA: 3.18
Innings Pitched (IP): 34.0
Strikeouts (SO): 21
WHIP: 1.15
There’s good news and bad news for Sonny if you look at the recent numbers. He threw 5 scoreless innings against Kansas City with 8 strikeouts and prior to that tossed 6 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies only allowing 1 run. The advanced metrics seem to reveal that Sonny has benefitted from favorable luck and strong defensive support. Considering the fact that the Red Sox are currently in the cellar of the American League East, they’ll need the best version of Sonny they can get, luck or not.
Ryan Helsley – Baltimore Orioles
If you’d like to look at Ryan’s situation as a glass-half-full type of thing, Helsley’s time with the Orioles has been much better than the second half of last season with the New York Mets. Ryan’s stat line as of today is a 2.53 ERA, 0-2 win-loss record, and 7 saves in 12 appearances. Ryan has had an injury setback which landed him on the IL on May 1, but the word is he’s started playing catch and is making progress toward getting back in the Oriole’s bullpen.
Harrison Bader – San Francisco Giants
Harrison’s bats did not successfully make the trip with him to the Bay area as his current 2026 stat line is .147 with 3 home runs, 5 RBIs, and an OPS of .478. The good news is Harrison had a strong game yesterday against the Athletics as he belted a home run. In fact, he may be trending up as 3 of his 4 home runs this season have come since May 12.
Miles Mikolas – Washington Nationals
How is Miles Mikolas faring with the Washington Nationals? The numbers show that Miles has seen better days:
Games Started: 6 (total of 9 appearances)
WHIP: 1.49
Strikeouts (K): 28
Innings Pitched (IP): 41.2
Miles has a 1-3 record with a 6.91 ERA and 28 strikeouts. His role has shifted to being an innings eater in the games he hasn’t started. I’ve seen reports that there’s been an increase to his fastball velocity recently. He tossed a season-high 5.2 innings of relief against the Baltimore Orioles about a week ago.
Andre Granillo – Washington Nationals
I decided to include Andre in this roundup although few of us Cardinals fans ever really got to know him to compare how that George Soriano trade worked out. Here are Andre’s stats for Washington so far. He has a 0-0 record with a 9.64 ERA across 8 relief appearances and has recorded 3 strikeouts, allowed 9 hits, and has a 2.25 WHIP. When you compare that to George Soriano’s 1-0 record and a 3.66 ERA across 19.2 innings pitched and a WHIP of 1.27, feeling pretty good about one of Chaim’s smaller offseason moves.
I look at many of these former St. Louis Cardinals having good fresh starts with their new teams as a win-win. The Cardinals have been able to kick the youth movement into high gear and many of the players we cheered for while wearing birds on the bat have themselves in good career situations moving forward. I wish them all well except when they’re playing us.
