Brilliant seasons from starting pitchers Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Joel Piñeiro helped St. Louis to stay in contention until the key midseason acquisitions of Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, and Julio Lugo revived the Cardinal offense.

An August 20–6 effectively ended the National League Central race, and the Cardinals won the division with a 91–71 record, seven-and-a-half games better than the second-place Cubs.

Utility infielder Aaron Miles, a member of the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals, signed a two-year deal on December 31 to play with the Cubs.

[4] Felipe López, who became the starting second baseman after a 2008 deadline trade and hit .385 for the Cardinals in two months, became a free agent and signed with the Diamondbacks.

[11] In December, the Cardinals declined to offer arbitration to relief pitchers Russ Springer and Jason Isringhausen, starter Braden Looper,[12] and relievers Tyler Johnson and Randy Flores.

[14] On Dec 3, to fill the lack of left-handed relievers caused by the departure of Flores, Johnson, and Villone, they signed lefty relief specialist Trever Miller to a one-year deal potentially worth $2 million if he reaches all the incentives in the contract.

[16] However, two months later the Cardinals signed Dennys Reyes, a 31-yr.-old left-handed relief specialist, to a two-year deal worth approximately $3 mil.

[21] On March 30, relief pitcher Chris Perez was optioned to AAA, finalizing the pitching situation for Opening Day.

Among the players making the Cardinals out of camp were utility infielders Joe Thurston and Brian Barden and two players making their big-league debuts: David Freese, who took the injured Troy Glaus' spot at third base, and former first-round draft pick (and highly anticipated prospect)[24][25] Colby Rasmus.

[27] On April 7, the Cardinals beat the Pirates 9-3 as Albert Pujols hit his first home run of the season and reached base five times.

[28] On April 8, the Cardinals lost to the Pirates by a score of 7–4, but Albert Pujols set the franchise record for most assists by a first baseman in a 9-inning game with seven.

[35] On April 20 the Cardinals attempted to buttress a sagging bullpen by trading former Rule 5 draft pick Brian Barton for Atlanta Braves' relief pitcher Blaine Boyer.

Boyer was tabbed to join the big-league club, leaving St. Louis with 13 pitchers on the 25-man roster, with David Freese optioned to Memphis.

[44] The injuries to Ankiel and Ludwick, combined with the continuing absence of Carpenter, contributed to a 4-10 stretch that dropped the Cardinals out of first place in the NL Central.

[51] One day later, Kyle Lohse, still suffering from the aftereffects of a hit-by-pitch on his throwing forearm, May 23, went to the DL for the first time in his career, and infielder Tyler Greene recalled.

[56] On June 27, in an effort to revive a sputtering offense, the Cardinals acquired Mark DeRosa from Cleveland for Chris Perez and a player to be named later.

On July 5, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina were named as winners of the fan balloting and starters for the National League in the 80th All-Star Game.

Albert Pujols was 0-for-3 with an error that led to an AL run, Yadier Molina had an RBI single, and Ryan Franklin pitched a scoreless inning.

On July 18, Mark DeRosa, suffering from a torn tendon sheath in his wrist that eventually required offseason surgery, was reactivated from the DL and returned to the starting lineup.

[62] Four days later, Chris Duncan, one of the few remaining players from the 2006 world champion Cardinals, was traded to the Boston Red Sox for shortstop Julio Lugo, along with a player-to-be-named-later or cash; and the team recalled Brian Barden.

[66] Buoyed by the arrival of Holliday and Lugo plus the return of DeRosa to the lineup and a hot Rick Ankiel, the Cardinals won six of their last nine games in July, and went 16-11 for the month.

Ryan Ludwick earned honors as the National League Player of the Month for July, after batting .340 with 6 HR's and a league-high 28 RBI.

[67] Albert Pujols tied the all-time NL season record set by Ernie Banks in 1955 by hitting his fifth grand slam of the year, (and his second HR of the game) on August 4 at New York.

The Cardinals previously forced extra innings by rallying for two runs in the ninth off Mets' ace closer Francisco Rodríguez.

[80] Third baseman Troy Glaus, out all year with a shoulder injury, became the first September call-up after maximum roster size expanded to 40.

[82] Albert Pujols hit only his second career pinch-hit home run in the 10th for a dramatic 2–1 game-winner over the Pirates, at PNC Park, September 5.

After the Memphis Redbirds' season ended with a loss in the AAA National Championship Game, the Cardinals announced four more September call-ups: David Freese, Tyler Greene, Josh Kinney, and Matt Pagnozzi.

The other nine rookies were Freese, Greene, P. J. Walters, Shane Robinson, Jarrett Hoffpauir, Colby Rasmus, Blake Hawksworth, Clayton Mortensen, and Jess Todd.

The Cardinals finally clinched the NL Central championship at Colorado (September 26), with their 90th win, 6–3, on a tie-breaking home run by replacement catcher Jason LaRue in the 7th inning.

The Cardinals second-round pick, Robert Stock out of USC, will begin his pro career as a catcher and that is reflected in these numbers.