Surprises and Disappointments for the St. Louis Cardinals in April and May

Tyler O’Neill

If you go back to our beginning predictions for the 2022 season, Tyler O’Neill was considered to be the MVP of the Cardinals. After all, O’Neill came off of a 2021 season where he hit 34 homers and accumulated a WAR of 6.3. Things appeared prime to be one of the stars in the National League, especially after a splendid Opening Day performance.

Since then, O’Neill has been lost at the plate. One of his biggest weaknesses is chasing the pitches low and away, and now pitchers are getting him to bite on the slider. With O’Neill now on the injured list, one might wonder if his right shoulder impingement injury was causing the problem.

Jordan Hicks

Jordan Hicks was a surprise choice to be the #5 starter when Jack Flaherty went to the Injured List to start the year. Hicks started some games in the minor leagues, but he’s never started in St. Louis. Unfortunately, the experiment has backfired on Oliver Marmol and the Cardinals. As we head into June, Hicks currently has -0.1 WAR.

Corey Dickerson

Dickerson came to St. Louis with the reputation of producing with the bat. He’s had successful stints with teams such as Colorado, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, so having him as a bench bat sounded great for the Cardinals.

The results so far have been disappointing. Dickerson’s biggest problem is the ability to make solid contact, especially on the fastball. He’s batting .103 against four-seam fastballs and has a run value of -5 against said fastballs. Given his paltry numbers, it’s not a surprise he’s ranked in the 30th percentile of max exit velocity.

If this continues, the front office might be tempted to designate him for assignment and give Lars Nootbaar more playing time.