The Cardinals’ five best moments of 2025
Not all of five of the St. Louis Cardinals’ best games in 2025 were wins, which is fitting for the current era of Cardinals baseball.
In a season where the pre-eminent goal was learning about the players in house and establishing a foundation for the future, in some ways seeing that was indeed bright enough that the wins mattered less.
It’s been at least six years since any “best moments” list could credibly include a playoff highlight from St. Louis, which is more or less the challenge inherent in assembling that sort of list. Some moments, though, were undeniable, even if they were only flashes that were frustratingly not borne out by the rest of the year.
5. A Home Sweep To Start the Year – March 30
The team spent last winter telling everyone who would listen that competitive success would not be the primary measuring stick for 2025.
In setting the bar that low, it stood out even more when something surprising happened out of the gate – they swept a series at home and looked strong on both sides of the ball.
Each of Nolan Gorman, Pedro Pagés and Victor Scott II homered in the series finale. Andre Pallante tossed five strong innings and Steven Matz earned his first career save, the four inning variety.
For the first weekend – arguably the first week – they looked like a team that would be able to hang. The sample size turned out to be small.
4. Erick Fedde’s Homecoming – May 9
Fedde had a rough second season returning to MLB from Korea. By the time the year was out, he’d been cut loose by three separate teams, the Cardinals endured a couple weeks of awkward non-answers about his status as they scrambled to drag him back to the sort of respectable numbers that could generate a return.
They were not able to do so, but for one night in May, it looked like he’d figured it all out.
Returning for the first time to pitch in Washington, the city where he spent most of the first decade of his career, Fedde struck out eight and scattered six hits in a shutout.
Sonny Gray’s one-hit gem in Cleveland in June was a more dominant performance and only a batter shy of a perfect game, but Fedde’s emotional catharsis at a dominant return was hard to top. It was easily his best moment as a Cardinal.
3. Kyle Leahy Pitches For His Grandmother – July 22
A native of Colorado, Leahy knew his grandmother was in poor health, and both he and his family maintained hopes the schedule would bring him home in time. It was only just so, as she passed away following the first game of the series on July 21.
The next night, after the Rockies tagged Fedde in the first three innings, Leahy had an opportunity to make a real memory.
He pitched the next 3 ⅔ innings, allowing just one run and striking out seven as he firmly staked his claim to upward mobility into the rotation.
After starting the season hot and going through a rough patch, it was essential for Leahy to prove that he could make the necessary adjustments to handle a full season in the big leagues. In the tough pitching environment at Coors Field, he was largely dominant, and he will enter 2026 as a real candidate to pitch regularly from the rotation. He’ll also do so with at least one unforgettable family memory.
2. Walker Walks Off the Giants – Sept. 6
So much of the uncertainty around what the future of the Cardinals lineup looks like is premised on Jordan Walker’s arrested development.
Any reasonable version of their plan to grow with the current roster must have included the assumption that Walker would provide as a middle of the order hitter, and he simply hasn’t been able to do so.
Riding an 0-for-25 into the ninth inning of the second game of the series, his team trailing 2-0, there was every possibility that the game would find him and leave with yet another frustration.
Instead, Walker didn’t wait, turning the first pitch he saw from Giants closer Ryan Walker right back down the third base line. The double scored two runs and saw the game flip at warp speed; Ryan Walker threw just 16 pitches to the five hitters he faced, all of whom reached base and three of whom scored.
Jordan Walker was the last one, but he was the one who the Cardinals most hope can distill the excitement of that success and spin it into an actionable feeling.
1. Bedlam at Citizens Bank Park – May 14
Pounded by rain in the season’s opening months, doubleheaders piled up at a historically rapid pace for the Cardinals in 2025.
A spring storm in Philadelphia wiped out the second game of a three-game set and generated a soggy twin bill on an unremarkable Wednesday with both teams itching to get away from the park. Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola, strong veteran starters, might’ve been expected to get through the game in a hurry. They didn’t.
The Phillies battered Gray for five runs in the bottom of the first, and on many nights, that would’ve seen the towel thrown in. Instead, Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson bookended a third-inning rally with homers to give the Cardinals the lead.
After Kyle Schwarber cashed in against Gray, St. Louis scored three more in the next half inning to put themselves out front far enough not to be caught. A late dogpile on the Philadelphia bullpen would bring in a season-high 14 runs, showcasing the hitters at their most dangerous and resilient.
