{"id":125201,"date":"2026-07-05T19:36:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=125201"},"modified":"2026-07-05T19:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:36:17","slug":"cardinals-standouts-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/05\/cardinals-standouts-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals’ Standouts of the Week: Week of 6\/29-7\/5"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is time again to identify the St. Louis Cardinals’ standouts of the week<\/a>! The Cardinals are coming off a productive week. They went 4-2 over six road games. They took two of three from the Atlanta Braves before taking another two of three from the Chicago Cubs. The offense caught fire during the week. From the seventh inning on Thursday to the end of Saturday’s game, the Cardinals outscored their opponent. 27-6. This includes a 17-1 beatdown of the Cubs on Friday.<\/p>\n

It was a fun week, but who are the Cardinals’ standouts of the week?<\/p>\n

Cardinals’ Standouts of the Week<\/h2>\n

Standout #3- Masyn Winn<\/a><\/h3>\n

After batting just .213 in May, Masyn Winn bounced back in June, hitting .267. So far, in July, he is continuing that positive trend, hitting .333 through the first five games<\/a>. In those five games, the shortstop collected seven hits, hit one home run, and drove in five.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

His biggest moments came on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, Winn collected three hits, helping the Cardinals rally to beat the Braves. The next day, Winn delivered a big three-run home run and drove in four runs in the Cardinals’ rout of the Cubs.<\/p>\n

What puts Winn as one of the Cardinals’ standouts is the hope that he continues this upward swing with the bat. Doing so will help the Cardinals’ lineup be a threat from top to bottom.<\/p>\n

Standout #2- Nathan Church<\/a><\/h3>\n

Church collected five hits for the Cardinals this past week. He hit two home runs and drove in eight runs. Both of his home runs came at key moments. On Thursday, Church hit a two-run home to tie the game in the seventh inning. The home run also opened the floodgates for the offense, as they scored seven total runs that inning. The next day, Church got the scoring started with a three-run home run in the second inning at Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n

\"After
Jul 2, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Nathan Church (27) celebrates with left fielder Bryan Torres (39) after a two-run home run against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After hitting .288 in June, Church continues to be a Cardinals’ standout with his timely hits. Furthermore, his defense in center field remains strong, with his Outs Above Average (OAA)<\/a> currently at 2.<\/p>\n

Church deserves a lot of credit for earning his playing time<\/a> this season. He earned the opportunity in Spring Training when it was apparent Lars Nootbaar<\/a> would start the season on the injured list. Church played well enough that the Cardinals could not take him out of the lineup. That is saying something, especially given how well prospect Joshua Baez<\/a> is doing in Triple-A. As we approach the All-Star Break, Church is definitely one of the Cardinals’ standouts of the first half.<\/p>\n

Standout #1- Jordan Walker<\/a><\/h3>\n

Of all the Cardinals’ standouts this season, there is no one more impressive than Jordan Walker. He does not just earn the top Cardinals standout spot this week; he earns it for the season so far. He started the season with many already calling him a bust<\/a>, but is now headed to the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n

Walker’s determination and dedication to improving his game is admirable. There were high expectations for him<\/a>, and it would have been easy for him to buckle under the pressure and the struggles. Instead, the Stone Mountain native stayed with it, and is now the clear MVP of the Cardinals this year. If he continues this pace (currently leading the National League in RBI), he will certainly receive league MVP votes as well.<\/p>\n

However, Walker does not top this list of Cardinals standouts because of an overall strong season. He earns it because of his week leading up to his All-Star selection. Walker collected six hits, two home runs, and drove in nine runs. He hit a three-run home run on Thursday in Atlanta, just 30 minutes from where he grew up. On Sunday, Walker nearly single-handedly swept the Cubs, driving in all four Cardinal runs, including a three-run home run.<\/p>\n

Walker is not taking anything for granted. He showed this when he found out he was an All-Star. He is focused on the process and helping the team win. The All-Star is deserving of all the praise and then some.<\/p>\n

\n

Years of hard work and perseverance \ud83d\udcaa<\/p>\n

The moment Jordan Walker found out he’s heading to the All-Star Game: pic.twitter.com\/YiQdzU2TxO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Week Ahead: Who Are The Next Cardinals’ Standouts?<\/h3>\n

The Cardinals return home for their final two series before the All-Star Break. There will be no rest for the weary. The Cardinals will play the Milwaukee Brewers five times in four days, with a Tuesday doubleheader to make up a previously rained-out game. Then, the Cardinals welcome the Atlanta Braves to Busch Stadium III for the final three games before a needed break.<\/p>\n

With eight games in seven days, this is a perfect opportunity for someone to earn a place on next week’s Cardinals’ standouts list. Will we see the same faces, or will some other players join in the fun? Time will tell.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Patrick Gorski- Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is time again to identify the St. Louis Cardinals’ standouts of the week! The Cardinals are coming off a productive week. They went 4-2 over six road games. They took two of three from the Atlanta Braves before taking another two of three from the Chicago Cubs. The offense caught fire during the week. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3464,"featured_media":125203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,25],"tags":[6383,3711,29440],"class_list":["post-125201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-cardinals","tag-jordan-walker","tag-masyn-winn","tag-nathan-church"],"modified_by":"Andrew Willis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3464"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125201"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125209,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125201\/revisions\/125209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}