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OK, that’s good.

But can the Cardinals be great?

Forget “transition year� or “letting the young guys play� or any tagline attached like an asterisk to this season’s results. Can this Cardinals team be great? Make the playoffs? Even win the division?

Now, personally, I believe the accomplishment in the last question is a bit daunting. But this is the week the Cardinals can control their fate unlike any other. They’re 4 1/2 games behind first-place Chicago — and the Cubs are in St. Louis for four games, Monday through Thursday, at a ballpark where the Cards are 24-15 this year.

This is the week that can change the team’s trajectory. And the Cards (42-36) enter the series with some confidence — they’ve won five of their past six while the lone loss, Sunday at Busch, featured some bad luck on balls hit hard.

So yeah, this series is particularly exciting. It’s the first time St. Louis has played the Cubs (46-31) during 2025 (heck, they’ve already played the Chicago White Sox). And because teams only play division foes 13 times a year, instead of 19, it increases the importance of winning a share of that baker’s dozen.

Now, Cubs-Cardinals is always, if anything, something.

Well, this series has everything.

Of course, there will be fun for fans. A time-honored rivalry. A series that packs Busch and sells Busch. And as seen over the decades, an important series since at least one of the teams is vying for October. But this year, for the first time since 2020, both teams are in the playoff hunt.

“Yeah,� Cards pitcher Miles Mikolas said, “these are the fun games. You know, those rivalry games. I'm sure there'll be a lot of blue up there in the seats, but hopefully there's more red. I know it's a midweek series; I hope the turnout is good. Hope people are here — come to the game. Boo the Cubs. You know, get in their head. Give us a home-field advantage. Let us take our shot here. And give them hell and let’s see if we can make a little move right here.�

“It's different, having played so many seasons with more of that in-division play. ... Like, you could really catch up to a team, but with having less of them, it makes these games more important. You know, it could be a good or bad thing, right? Like, if you're in first place, you know that you don't have too many games against those division opponents, and it's easier to maybe run away with it. But if you're chasing them, you wish you had more games against them — or maybe you didn't. Different ways to look at it.�

Here are four games, followed by three more games from July 4-6 at Wrigley. Seven chances before the All-Star Break rattle the Cubbies. And yes, some people might say: Why is this such a big series if it’s played in June? Well, we need to consider the trade deadline of July 31. If the Cards aren’t in a great spot by then, you’d have to think they’ll trade closer Ryan Helsley and starter Erick Fedde and even Nolan Arenado.

But if they’re clearly in the playoff race by July 31, that changes the calculus. So, sure, a Cubs-Cards series in August might have more panache (heck, Buzz Bissinger wrote a whole book about one), but if the Cards don’t go from good to great right now, August will be irrelevant.

“I mean, it's a big part of the year,� rookie pitcher Gordon Graceffo said. “Every game is big at this point, and we're looking forward to finishing the first half off strong. And we’ve got some division opponents.�

There were already some hints about how big this series is. The Cardinals didn’t announce any starting pitcher past Monday’s hurler Matthew Liberatore — knowing the upcoming pitchers can benefit an opponent’s scouting and preparation.

And after Sunday’s game, former Cub Willson Contreras, now a standout Card, passed along word through team PR that he’s “not interested in talking to the media.� Now, some of that might because he just went 0 for 4 on a brutally hot day in a loss (to his credit, Contreras has been hitting the baseball brilliantly — since April 18, he has a .283 average and a .864 on-base plus slugging percentage, along with nine homers and 43 RBIs in 54 games). But it was still eye-opening that he didn’t want to talk with the Cubs series opening the next day.

As for the one starter we know, Liberatore will face a fellow named Ben Brown (4-5, 5.57 ERA). I like Libby’s chances (the Cubs are coming off a home series loss to Seattle). Entering June, Liberatore had a 3.08 ERA. After his first two June starts, he had a 4.08 ERA. He doesn’t fare well, it seems, against American League teams in blue — the Royals and Blue Jays combined for 12 earned runs against Libby. But then he faced the American League’s White Sox, whose fans are the only thing blue, and Liberatore pitched a quality start.

Literally. He allowed two runs in six innings, while striking out four and not walking a single batter.

“I had just a command of everything,� Liberatore said Sunday before the Cards’ 4-1 loss to Cincinnati. “Slider wasn't as good as I would have wanted, but all the other pitches for me were about as good as they felt all year, and I was able to locate them and use them effectively. So I’m really happy with where my stuff is at right now.�

So are the Cubs great? As of this moment, they are. The first-place club has the best run differential in the National League (plus-96). New addition Kyle Tucker is a leading candidate for the league’s MVPNNSO: Most Valuable Player Not Named Shohei Ohtani. And dynamic youngster Pete Crow-Armstrong is a delight to watch (and surely a pest to play against).

But these next two series against St. Louis could affect the Cubs’ categorization.