Heading into the final week of the MLB regular season, the St. Louis Cardinals' slim playoff chances were still alive. Now, with a weekend series left, they have been mathematically eliminated from October baseball.
It was an up-and-down season for the Cardinals. They fought the odds up until the very last bit, but ultimately came up short for the third year in a row.
With this being said, reports suggest that it may bring an end to the Cardinals' lone 2025 All-Star for the final three games of the 2025 season.
Brendan Donovan is likely done for the rest of 2025
Heading into the final series of the season against the Chicago Cubs, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat announced that Brendan Donovan will most likely be shut down for the rest of the season.
Jones stated that the 28-year-old "is likely to appear only in an emergency this weekend" against the Cubs after playing through lingering injuries in the final few months of the regular season.
Now that the Cardinals are playing for nothing, there's no need to play the All-Star utility man and risk a long-term injury.
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Donovan is expected to wrap up his breakout 2025 season after appearing in 118 games for the Cardinals, batting .287 with a .353 on-base percentage, .422 slugging percentage, and a .775 OPS while hitting 10 home runs and 50 RBI.
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