3 Early Red Flags for the St. Louis Cardinals

St Louis Cardinals Red Flag No. 3: Inconsistent Starting Pitching

Going into the 2022 season, starting pitching had to be the top of everyone’s “red flag” list. Depending on the day you watch this rotation, you may see them go toe to toe with an ace, or get beat up by a below average offense.

As far as stats go via MLB.com, the rotation currently ranks bottom 10 in baseball in innings pitched and opponents batting average. The four traditional starters (Wainwright, Mikolas, Matz, and Hudson) have all had excellent and disastrous starts.  Opener Jordan Hicks has not wowed by any means.  The club hopes to get Jack Flaherty back in the near future, but the club should be worried if any injuries occur.

Some would argue this is a better start for the rotation then expected, but the signs for struggling pitching are still there. Thankfully the Cardinals bullpen has been elite thus far, but St. Louis cannot rely on the bullpen to consistently come into games early and put up zeros. Starters need to get deeper into games so the bullpen is not overworked, or asked to produce more than it should.