After a five-game winning streak to start the season, the St. Louis Cardinals stumbled Monday night against the Miami Marlins. The loss snapped their streak, but less than 24 hours later, they responded with a 5-3 win, continuing to show the resilience that has defined their early season.
“I’ve been excited to watch them this year, because they’re actually winning,” sophomore Ellen Hemman said. “I’m pretty sure everyone can agree that the past few seasons have been rough.”
That response has become a pattern for the Cardinals this season. In multiple series, the team has dropped the opener only to rebound with back-to-back wins. After a 2–4 loss to the Mets on March 30, they responded immediately with consecutive 3–0 and 2–1 victories.
The trend continued in mid-April against the Washington Nationals and the Cleveland Guardians, where early losses were again followed by two straight wins, allowing the Cardinals to recover quickly and still take control of each series.
While the slow starts remain a concern, the team’s ability to adjust between games has prevented those losses from snowballing, keeping early-season momentum intact.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and many fans have credited right fielder Jordan Walker for the newfound success of the team.
“You have a really talented player who’s been through quite a bit — and who’s had the last couple years he’s had — and that holds a lot of weight,” Marmol said in a postgame interview. “So, to be able to see him enjoying himself, having fun and showing what he’s capable of doing is really good to see.”
After hitting 16 home runs in his 2023 rookie year, Walker dominated the scoreboard for the Cardinals. His season is looking strong so far with 8 homers and an OPS of 0.964, the eleventh-best in the league according to ESPN. The Marlins put an end to his 15-game hitting streak Tuesday.
Walker said his mindset this season has shifted to embrace failure and avoid overexerting himself physically or mentally in response to it.
“Right now, instead of trying to overwork and do too much, I’m trying, when I’m not feeling as good, to do less and stay more relaxed,” Walker said. “I think that’s just the approach that’s helped me a little bit more this year.”
This transition is evident in the composure of the team as a whole, something the fans are beginning to recognize and trust.
“I don’t get worried after just one loss,” junior Emmy Gusewelle said. “You can tell that they aren’t the same team that they were last year, because after a loss, they’ve showed us how they come back each time.”