The St. Louis Cardinals completed the first half of the 2026 season on Sunday, finishing with a 50-45 record despite preseason projections having them at the bottom of the National League Central.The Cardinals managed to outperform their expectations in the first half and saw players like Jordan Walker, Riley O'Brien and JJ Wetherholt emerge while Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson remained key pillars of the lineup.However, the Cardinals seem to be coming back down to earth a little bit. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games, 8 1/2 back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and also in third place in the division. This recent stretch against contending teams proved exactly who they are.Cardinals have shown their true identityJul 11, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker (18) hits a single against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectOn the surface, it may seem like this is a good thing. The Cardinals won three out of their four series, beating the Atlanta Braves twice and taking a set from the Chicago Cubs. But you have to look closer.The series that mattered the most was their five-game set against the Brewers. They were at home for that series and had a chance to gain ground in the division after two straight series victories.Instead, they lost four out of five games in that set. The bullpen imploded and the offense was shut down. The big stretch against contending teams is now over, and they went 7-7 in those 14 games.While some fans may believe the Cardinals proved who they were for the better, they actually didn't. If they want to be a true contender and avoid selling at the trade deadline, they are going to have play better than that against contending teams.A 9-5 stretch against those teams would have been more encouraging, but that didn't happen. Instead, the Cardinals are likely staring down the barrel of selling at the deadline. That includes players like O'Brien, Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Ryne Stanek, and potentially even Lars Nootbaar.The focus is still going to be on the future anyway, so it's not like selling at the deadline will be a huge surprise. This team simply is not built to be a true contender, and even buying won't fix that. The team needs to stay focused on its rebuild, and as long as it does that, the future will be much brighter in St. Louis.Chaim Bloom has talked about not taking shortcuts for the Cardinals to get where they want to go, and this recent stretch reaffirmed why they shouldn't do that.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow