The St. Louis Cardinals finished fourth in the National League Central after going 77-85 during the regular season and missing the postseason for a fourth consecutive year. Plenty of good things still took place for the Cardinals in 2026, and they got a chance to see their young core take some important steps forward.

However, the Cardinals are making some changes with their coaching staff. While the majority of this year's staff will return for the 2027 season, one coach has been let go. According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, hitting coach Brant Brown will not return in 2027.

Cardinals move on from Brant Brown

Brown was hired as the team's hitting coach after the 2024 season, replacing Turner Ward. Unfortunately, they didn't have much success offensively during Brown's tenure. This season, they posted the second-lowest OPS and slugging percentage in the major leagues behind the Los Angeles Angels.

The Cardinals still have assistant hitting coaches Brandon Allen and Casey Chenoweth. It is highly likely that one of them will be promoted to the main hitting coach position for next season, but that isn't the only thing the Cardinals can do.

Perhaps this potentially opens the door for Albert Pujols to join the coaching staff in some capacity to fill the hole left by Brown's departure. Pujols is likely the leading candidate to become the manager of the Los Angeles Angels, but if former Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak chooses somebody else to manage the Halos, this could open the door for Pujols to return to St. Louis in some capacity, so it will be interesting to see what Chaim Bloom decides to do with the position.

For now though, the Cardinals will be searching for a new hitting coach for the 2027 season. They could promote from within or go outside the organization to find help. The team's rebuild is still in its early stages, so they'll want to make sure they find somebody with the right amount of experience to help guide the younger players.

The Cardinals had Jeff Albert as their hitting coach through the 2022 season before handing the reins over to Ward. Ward was not retained after the 2024 season and gave way to Brown. There are plenty of options within the organization and outside the organization as the Cardinals look to continue their work towards their ultimate goal of rebuilding themselves into a true contender.