5 pitchers the St. Louis Cardinals could target this offseason

Pitching was a major concern for the 2021 St. Louis Cardinals. How could they try to improve it in 2022?

There are many interesting starting pitchers on the free-agent market this season. With Oli Marmol set as the new manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, it’s obvious the team will be taking on a new analytical approach.

Fans may see the new approach in how the pitching staff is handled in 2022. The team could implement the newer approach of using an opener, middle innings guys, and then dip into the relief pitchers.

This would definitely alleviate the concerns of overusing arms before the middle of the season. It would also help prevent what became a season-long issue for the Cardinals in overuse of the bullpen.

While the 2021 team was without its ace Jack Flaherty for much of the season, the team relied heavily on Kwang Hyun Kim, Carlos Martinez, and Johan Oviedo until they had to be shut down for the season.

Kim was moved to the bullpen, Oviedo was sent to AAA Memphis and we didn’t see Martinez again due to injury. While the team was able to rely on veteran ace Adam Wainwright, they did have to scour for arms the remainder of the season getting Wade LeBlanc, Jon Lester, J.A. Happ in free-agent signing and trades.

The team was also able to get Miles Mikolas back prior to the end of the season as well as Dakota Hudson and Flaherty. Jake Woodford also proved to be an excellent arm for the Cardinals from AAA Memphis.

Next season the Cardinals will have Wainwright, Mikolas, Hudson, and Flaherty available.

There was a discussion of moving Alex Reyes and Jordan Hicks into starting roles. It would be curious to see if they became openers and were only used for two to three innings, as they have previously been used in closing roles. Reyes had a terrible couple of months at the end of the  2021 season. Hicks was shut down due to injury. He was getting stretched out as a starter in the Arizona Fall League but came home after a couple of weeks.

Fans could also see the emergence of star prospects Matthew Liberatore and Zack Thompson this season.

It’s unclear who the team will have back as relievers, but seemingly, the team should have arms available for situations thus preventing the overuse we saw with relievers Reyes, Genesis Cabrera, and Giovanny Gallegos.

As was the case in 2021, anything is possible health wise. Teams should definitely be prepared for whatever may happen.

It would seem with Marmol and pitching coach Mike Maddux being open to using the analytics, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak may be open to spending to get some pitching help as well as all take care of all of the team’s other needs.

Some of the available pitchers may be out of the range of the Cardinals’ needs such as Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, and Justin Verlander.

I had previously mentioned Robbie Ray as a potential fit with the Cardinals. And fans would love to see hometown favorite Max Scherzer get a shot with the team.

Let’s discuss some other potential arms the Cardinals may look into for 2022.

Alex Wood

Lefty starter Alex Wood, 30, started 26 games for the San Francisco Giants in 2021, going 10-4. He threw 138.2 innings and induced ground balls 50.8% of the time.

Wood uses three pitches – a sinker, a slider, and a changeup – and used the sinker a majority of the time. At 91.8 mph, the sinker had 20.9 inches of vertical drop with an active spin of 99%. Wood’s slider averaged 84 mph with 41.3 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 26%. Wood’s change-up averaged 85.3 mph with 36.2 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 95%

In 2021, Wood tossed a walk rate of 6.7% or 39 total walks. This is outstanding considering the walk rate of the entire St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff in 2021. Wood had a strikeout rate of 26% with 152 strikeouts. He had an impressive swinging strike percentage of 32.2%.

As a left-hander that can throw several innings with an interesting mix of pitches that can induce ground ball-outs, he would be a good fit for the Cardinals rotation in 2022. The low rate of inducing walks is pretty awesome to see as well.

Carlos Rodon

In his final season before hitting free agency, Carlos Rodon was 13-5 with 24 games started for the Chicago White Sox. The left-hander threw 132.2 innings and one complete game shutout.  He had an 82.2 left of base percentage striking out a career-high 185 batters. He had a swinging strike rate of 30.3.

Rodon uses a four-seam fastball, a slider, a changeup, and a curveball. Rodon’s fastball averaged 95.4 mph with a drop of 12.6 inches and an active spin of 98%. The slider hits 85.8 mph with 38.2 inches of drop and an active spin of 28%. Rodon’s change-up hits 85.2 mph with 26.2 inches of drop and an active spin of 99%. The curveball is a new pitch he used in 2021. The curve hits 76.7 mph with 54.3 inches of drop and an active spin of 64%.

At 28, Rodon is a crafty lefty with tons of potential. It would be amazing to see how he would mix with and ultimately grow from working with Yadier Molina.

Steven Matz

Steven Matz had a pretty decent year with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021. Could this translate into a better contract for the 30-year-old lefty? He could be another option the Cardinals could consider for an opener or middle innings pitcher.

In 29 games started in 2021, Matz was 14-7 with 150.2 innings thrown. He gave up 43 walks while striking out 144.

Matz uses a mix of a sinker, changeup, curveball and slider. He used his sinker a majority of the time. The sinker averaged 94.5 mph with 18.4 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 99%. His changeup averaged 85.1 mph with 34.6 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 86%. His curveball averaged 77.6 mph with 54.8 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 82%. His slider averaged 88.9 mph with 28.9 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 40%. His swinging strike percentage was 27.8%.

Matz has an interesting pitch arsenal that would be quite the addition to the Cardinals pitching staff. He has spent seven seasons in the majors, a majority of that time with the New York Mets. After his time in New York and Buffalo/Toronto, St. Louis would certainly be a change of pace that may be beneficial to him.

Jon Gray

Jon Gray has long been an intriguing pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. Even after struggling in an injury-plagued season for the Colorado Rockies, Gray still seems like an arm you want to give a shot.

Gray was 8-12 on the season with 29 games started for the Rockies. He threw 149 innings, giving up 58 walks and striking out 157.

Gray uses a mix of a four-seam fastball, slider, changeup, and a curveball. His used his fastball a majority of the time as it averaged 94.9 mph with 19.2 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 96%. His slider averaged 86.7 mph with 32.7 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 31%. The changeup averaged 87.6 mph with 28 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 98%. His curveball averages 76 mph with a filthy 56.6 inches of vertical drop and an active spin of 80%. His swinging strike rate for 2021 was 28.7%.

As with any player arriving from the Colorado Rockies, you wonder how he will adapt away from Coors Field to the humid summers of St. Louis. Teams will be hesitant with Gray due to his lower numbers in 2021. Given his history, and hopefully a good relationship with Nolan Arenado, Gray may be an interesting option for the Cardinals.