Evaluating St. Louis Cardinals MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year cases

Conclusion

So, can the Cardinals win a major award this season? Goldschmidt is the front-runner for MVP, but he has to hold off Manny Machado, Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, and two of his teammates. Cy Young looks like it might be out of reach, but there are three young Cardinals building strong rookie of the year resumes.

There are other spaces for recognition, as well. Maybe Ryan Helsley gets more save opportunities and wins reliever of the year? Oli Marmol has done a commendable job managing a roster full of moving pieces. Is he worthy of manager of the year recognition?

Of course, the Cardinals have brought back most of the Gold Glove roster from last season, too. It wouldn’t be shocking for the Cardinals to defend their title as the best defense in baseball in 2022, as well.

Ultimately, there’s a reason these awards aren’t given out in June. Less than half the season has been played, and no one knows what the rest of the summer might bring. The good news is the St. Louis Cardinals boast worthy candidates for each spot. And in a quest for a deep playoff run, you need to have superstars to rely on.

The Cardinals have a long history of individual and team accomplishments. We’ll keep tracking these players as they work to add to both tallys. In the meantime, we can celebrate their individual success as the team steadily wins ballgames and builds towards the postseason.

Trivia question– The six St. Louis Cardinal Rookie of the Year winners are:

Wally Moon (1954)

Bill Virdon (1955)

Bake McBride (1974)

Vince Coleman (1985)

Todd Worrell (1986)

Albert Pujols (2001)