6 free agents the St. Louis Cardinals should consider

Marcus Stroman

Fans should not expect any certainty with the talk of Alex Reyes and Jordan Hicks joining the rotation. If anything, they would be spot starters or placed in a piggyback situation.

The Cardinals will look to bolster their rotation this offseason. The team will need an actual, innings eating type of dependable starter.  If they are serious about it, the team should look at Marcus Stroman.

Stroman had a one-year deal with the New York Mets in 2021 worth $18.9 million. In 33 games, Stroman was 10-13 with 179 innings thrown. He had 158 strikeouts, 44 walks, with a 3.02 ERA. He has a 28.4% called and swinging-strike rate. For his career, he has induced 57.4% ground balls. This is pretty good especially if you have a Gold Glove defense behind you.

Stroman has a deep pitching arsenal as he depends on six pitches – a sinker, a slider, split-finger, a cutter, a four-seam fastball, and a curveball. Stroman’s sinker averages 91.9 mph with 27.9 inches of vertical drop and a 59% active spin. His slider averages 85 mph with 36.2 inches of vertical drop and a 53% active spin. The splitter averages 86.1 mph with 35.2 inches of vertical drop and an 82% active spin. The cutter averages 89.9 mph with 28.7 inches of vertical drop and a 29% active spin. The fastball averages 92.4 mph with 19.1 inches of vertical drop and a 62% active spin. And the curveball averages 77.4 mph with 36.2 inches of vertical drop and a 72% active spin.

Something tells me Stroman would greatly benefit from working with pitching coach Mike Maddux and catcher Yadier Molina. While so many pitch options could definitely throw off a batter, the Cardinals staff could help narrow down his pitching options to become more effective in allowing him to pitch to contact and nail down his shutdown pitch.