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3 free agents the St Louis Cardinals should avoid post-lockout
Pedro Strop
Pedro Strop, 36, is a 13-season veteran relief pitcher. Strop spent the 2020 season with the Cincinnati Reds and the rest of the time, including the 2021 season, has been spent with the Chicago Cubs.
This is the primary reason I find this free agent to be a dud. As a Cardinal fan, I’ve always found him exasperating.
During the 2021 season, Strop pitched in two games going 1-0, throwing two innings and three strikeouts. Over the course of his career, Strop has pitched 561 games, going 29-30 with 32 saves in 505.2 innings, tossing 554 strikeouts.
For Strop’s career, he has a large pitch arsenal – a four-seam fastball, a cutter, a slider, and a sinker. He recently cut a splitter from his selection of pitches. It would be interesting to see how he would have faired in an environment that would have had him narrow down his selection to off-speed pitches. He would have had to have more trust in the defense behind him, though. He never had the best defense behind him with the Chicago Cubs.
While Strop is a free agent, he would not be a good fit with the Cardinals. He would be a dud in the Cardinals system. He will most likely return for a one-year incentive-filled contract with the Cubs or retire.