St. Louis Cardinals: Should John Gant start over Dakota Hudson?

John Gant has been stellar as a reliever in the 2019 season, but could he serve as a consistent fifth starter, while Dakota Hudson can move to the St. Louis Cardinals ‘pen where he flourished in 2018?

Ok, ok, I get it St. Louis Cardinals fans. Dakota Hudson has not looked good this year and you don’t want to see him until he gets it worked out. I also get that John Gant has been one of our best relievers, and is currently part of a strong three headed monster with Jordan Hicks and John Brebbia.

While this may seem outrageous based on how well Gant is doing out of the ‘pen, there are two reasons why I would do this. The first is that, while Gant is great out of the bullpen, he isn’t that much worse as a starter. He allows an OPS just 28 points higher as a starter than he does as a reliever, and his .381 SLG allowed as a starter is actually less than his .384 allowed as a reliever.

If you take away this season, the performance becomes even closer. Gant has clearly taken a step forward, and even if it isn’t nearly as big as the numbers make it seem, it’s safe to assume that Gant would be a serviceable back end starter.

Of course, it’s hard to demote last year’s PCL pitcher of the year and tell him to figure things out, and I think that’s the biggest point to consider before sending However, let’s not forget that Hudson was one of the better relievers in the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen during his limited time.

With that being said, will a trip down to a league with hitter that are clearly below Hudson’s level really help him bring it back? I would get it if this was just a recalibration of sorts, but it’s not just that.

Hudson has to find the ‘oomph’ to really get him over the hump, and that means testing himself against the best competition. As a reliever, he can work with the best and he can work against the best. He can work day by day to self evaluate and fix what he needs to fix, then apply it without having to wait and sit on it for several days.

This move is also about utilizing the flexibility of Gant and the St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff to the fullest. Hudson has been ok out of the starting spot, but there’s still a great deal of inconsistency and labor involved. His ERA and WHIP still stand at pretty nauseating numbers so far, and he hasn’t managed a single quality start so far this season.

While Gant’s rate of starts over 6 innings in 2018 sits just over 25%, he allowed more than 3 runs in a start just 4 times. It’s nothing to cry home about, but it also is something a team can feel comfortable with as their fifth starter.

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The other thing to note is that Gant has clearly improved from last season, and those improvements could translate to his starts.

When training camp broke, it was Hudson barely edging out Gant for the fifth spot in the rotation, so the Cardinals were confident in Gant’s ability to start even before the massive improvements made this year.

The main problem lies in replacing what Gant brings to the bullpen. The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen has been, quite frankly, bad over the last several seasons, so taking a sub 1 ERA guy out of the bullpen when you can call up guys like Daniel Ponce De Leon or Austin Gomber seems counterproductive.

I think what people are missing in some respects is that this move isn’t permanent. If it doesn’t work out after a few appearances from Hudson or Gant, then you can put Gant back in the pen and move Hudson down, or whatever corresponding move makes sense at the time.

The St. Louis Cardinals have plenty of options, but that doesn’t mean that they have to use them all as soon as something goes wrong. The Cards are doing well, so they can afford to be patient with Dakota Hudson, and making this move would reflect just that.