Tonight is the 58th Cubs game of the 2026 season and finally, finally the team will be facing its biggest rival, the St. Louis Cardinals.
On the one hand, you shouldn’t have to go through 35 percent of the season before facing that biggest rival. On the other hand, this means that 13 of the Cubs’ next 68 games will be against the Cardinals. On the other other hand, that means the Cubs won’t face the Cardinals after Aug. 14, the 125th game of the season.
That all feels wrong. Bring back the unbalanced
schedule.
For more on the Cardinals, here’s Doc Holliday, manager of our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos, who sent me 11 key points about our division rivals.
- JJ Wetherholt has one of the best batting eyes the Cubs will compete against this year. He’s averaging seeing 18 pitches per game and will be the Cardinals leadoff man for years to come.
- The Ivan Herrera catching experiment isn’t working. He has yet to throw out a runner, but his bat continues to be vital.
- Jordan Walker is for real. He not only got off to a hot start, but then made successful adjustments after pitchers adjusted to him being a threat. He might be the most dangerous hitter in the National League right now.
- Nolan Gorman is still Nolan Gorman. He’s been a low .200’s BA hitter and he’s still a low .200’s BA hitter and his power numbers don’t compensate for the lack of contact.
- Michael McGreevy is likely the “ace” of the Cardinals rotation right now. He has Greg Maddux-ish tendencies and knows how to move the ball around the zone and grab corners.
- Matthew Liberatore has struggled to establish himself. He can be lock-down for four innings, but fall apart in the fifth. Or, as was the case Monday against the Brewers, have a terrible first inning, then be lights out for the next four.
- The Cardinals are relentless in their approach and have notched numerous comeback wins. They’re young and don’t know they’re supposed to be losing right now.
- The bullpen is problematic. Riley O’Brien started the year with over a dozen saves, but has been hittable his last couple of appearances. Ryne Stanek has had flashes of being good, but he’s wild and has lost more games than he’s helped win. Gordon Graceffo has been a relatively solid middle relief arm, but Justin Bruihl and Matt Svanson remain question marks.
- Bryan Torres is a great story – in the minors for a decade and had two hits including a home run in his first game. He tried to quit, but his mother talked him out of it.
- The Cardinals fan base has started grumbling about Oli Marmol’s use of the rotation and bullpen. He dropped Brycen Mautz into Monday’s game as a middle innings reliever in a tight 3-1 game against the Brewers for his major league debut and it did not end well. Our community is hot that Oli dropped this guy into the fire of a game against division leader for his first major league appearance.
- Overall, St. Louis has become a dangerous team to play. Their offense can be explosive and starters like McGreevy, Dustin May and Andre Pallante are starting to find their groove.
Fun facts
As mentioned above, after a mere 57 other games, more than one third of the season, the Cubs finally will face the Cardinals for the first time this year.
They closed out last season against one another, with the Cubs sweeping three games at Wrigley Field. They have not squared off at St. Louis since the Cardinals won the rubber game of a series on Aug. 10. The Cubs have played 102 games since then.
The Cubs’ 2,526 games vs. the Cardinals are their second most against any opponent, after 2,629 vs. the Pirates. In all those games, the Cubs have outscored the Cards by just 19 runs, 11,045 to 11,026. They lead the rivalry, 1,281 wins to 1,226, but are 566-675 at St. Louis. The 675 losses are their second most on the road, after 714 at Pittsburgh.
Last year, the Cubs were 3-4 at St. Louis, splitting a four-game series and losing two of three in the other. They were 1-1 and 2-2 in 2024. They last won a series, 3-1, July 27-30, 2023.
The Cubs have not swept a series at St. Louis since Sept. 13-15, 2010. This is their 40th series there since then. They have been swept in 10 of the previous 39, most recently Sept. 2-4, 2022. One of the sweeps was four games and another was two.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Friday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (4-5, 4.04 ERA, 1.067 WHIP, 3.85 FIP) vs. Andre Pallante, RHP (5-4, 3.76 ERA, 1.255 WHIP, 4.42 FIP)
Saturday: Ben Brown, RHP (1-2, 2.01 ERA, 0.985 WHIP, 2.27 FIP) vs. Kyle Leahy, RHP (5-3, 4.44 ERA, 1.579 WHIP, 4.95 FIP)
Sunday: Jordan Wicks, LHP (0-1, 16.62 ERA, 2.308 WHIP, 5.15 FIP) vs. Matthew Liberatore, LHP (2-3, 4.76 ERA, 1.571 WHIP, 4.66 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Friday: 6:15 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Saturday: 6:15 p.m. CT, Fox-TV (regional — coverage map, scroll down to the bottom of that link). A reminder that if you subscribe to MLB.TV or MLB Extra Innings, you can watch this game via those services even if it’s not on the Fox affiliate in your market. Announcers: Eric Collins, John Smoltz and Ken Rosenthal.
Sunday: 6:20 p.m. CT, NBC/Peacock (full national broadcast, no blackouts). Announcers: Jason Benetti, Jim Deshaies and Albert Pujols.
Prediction
The Cardinals have lost four straight and six of seven and maybe the pixie dust is wearing off. The Cubs offense looks good after the last two games in Pittsburgh.
Two of three.
Up next
The Cubs have Monday off, then return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the Athletics beginning Tuesday evening.
