Unless Alec Burleson finishes the weekend with a flurry of base hits, the Cardinals will go another season without a .300 hitter.

The Cardinals open their final series of the season Friday with a 1:20 p.m. game vs. the Cubs at Chicago's venerable Wrigley Field.

Burleson enters the weekend with a .293 batting average and needing a hot weekend to hit .300. If he got 14 at-bats in the final three games, he would need eight hits in them.

Regardless of how Burleson finishes, he'll come closer than any Cardinal in the previous two seasons. The qualified batter closest to the .300 mark in 2023 and 2024 was Brendan Donovan, who hit .278 last year.

Without a hot weekend by Burleson, the Cardinals would finish a third straight season without a qualified hitter finishing with a .300 or better bat

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