Rebuilding Cardinals continue to buck trends often found in young teams

The St. Louis Cardinals have one of the youngest rosters in all of Major League Baseball. Only the Washington Nationals have a younger average age for batters, and only the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians, and Pittsburgh Pirates have younger pitchers. More often than not, teams that rely on young and inexperienced players see themselves struggle in high-pressure situations. The St. Louis Cardinals must have missed that memo.

With an average hitter age of just 25.9, one would expect Cardinal hitters to struggle in the big moments of a game. FanGraphs has a split statistic called "high leverage." These high-leverage instances are moments in a game where the stakes are higher. The result of the plate appearance can significantly alter the win expectancy for both teams.

In high-leverage situations, Cardinal hitters have a 129 wRC+, seventh best in the league. JJ Wetherholt (231 wRC+), Masyn Winn (185 wRC+), and Ivan Herrera (150 wRC+) lead the Cardinals' charge in these moments in a game. Wetherholt's 231 wRC+ in high-leverage situations ranks twentieth among all qualified hitters.

Pitchers for the Cardinals are found somewhere near the middle of the pack in high-leverage situations. They rank twelfth in the majors with a 9.50 ERA in these moments; their 3.61 FIP ranks ninth. Solid, not great.

St. Louis Cardinals are bucking losing trends that are often found in young and rebuilding baseball teams.

From a team perspective, the young Cardinals have managed to outperform several other teams. Prior to games on Friday, May 8th, the Cardinals have a 22-15 record, sixth best in all of baseball and good enough for the first Wild Card spot should the postseason start today.

In one-run games, the Cardinals are 8-2, the third-best winning percentage in such games. They're 12-5 on the road, giving them the best road winning percentage in baseball. They're undefeated (5-0) in extra-inning games. Their 12-4 record against teams better than .500 gives them the best winning percentage in these games. No matter which record split you use, the Cardinals are at or near the top of MLB standings. Few other teams measure up to them in these challenging situations.

Rarely do young teams have success on the road, against good teams, and in extra innings. Coaching certainly plays a factor in these situations, and the Cardinals appear to have a good coaching staff led by Oli Marmol. A lack of fear or expectation pressure could also be playing a factor. Perhaps the young players are too naive to know that they should be more stressed in these situations. Natural variance in small sample sizes is also a likely contributing factor to their success, for many of these win-loss splits fluctuate dramatically year over year.

Whatever the reason may be, these Baby Birds are flying high when it matters most. There's still plenty of baseball left to be played in 2026. If the Cardinals can continue to play well in high-leverage situations, the rebuilding season that once was could become a cornerstone season for the future.

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