5 players the St. Louis Cardinals did dirty during the 2024 season

Ivan Herrera

Arguably the most misused and mistreated Cardinal in 2024, Ivan Herrera was excellent at the plate for St. Louis this past season, but like Contreras the year prior, the Cardinals let his failures behind the plate totally cloud their judgment regarding the impact he can have on the team.

Despite being given just 259 plate appearances in 2024, Herrera ranked first on the club in batting average (.301) and xwOBA (.369), second in both wRC+ (127), OBP (.372) and SLG (.428), fifth in WAR (2.1). Herrera was easily their second-best position player outside of Willson Contreras...and yet they went with Pedro Pages over him? I still do not understand how that was the case.

It was one thing when Contreras was healthy for the Cardinals to want a defensive first backup catcher, but for them not to see how Herrera's bat needed to be in the lineup every day, even if that just meant as their DH, is beyond me. The Cardinals lineup was massively disappointing this year, so deliberately casting aside your second-best bat and giving him the tenth-most plate appearances on the team is malpractice.

On top of that, Katie Woo of The Athletic (subscription required) pointed out in her incredible deep dive regarding the Cardinals' failures in player development that the club has not had a catching coordinator in their organization, a role that most MLB teams have and would have directly worked with Ivan Herrera over the last few years to develop defensively. Sure, the club was hoping Yadier Molina would help with that this year, but it does not excuse years of neglect that the organization has shown toward their young players, especially Herrera.

Instead, they had Herrera riding the bench in St. Louis far too often or stuck in Memphis, decisions that just cannot be defended. Hopefully, Chaim Bloom can see through the Cardinals' mistakes and equip Herrera to be a key piece of their future, as the organization has seemed to stunt his growth left and right.

Jordan Walker

Like Herrera, the Cardinals made a variety of questionable decisions regarding Jordan Walker in 2024, but the issues really began back in 2023.

Walker was not ready to be on the Cardinals' Major League roster for Opening Day of 2023. Myself and others believed he was, but it became clear quickly that the Cardinals had rushed him, especially with a capable option in Dylan Carlson ready to start while Walker finished getting ready in Memphis.

Instead, Walker struggled in St. Louis, had to spend a month in Memphis to get his swing going, and then was able to finish the 2023 season mashing with the Cardinals. That led me to believe big things were in store for Walker this year, but Walker took multiple steps back instead.

Walker once again began his season in a slump, and his inability to make good swing decisions and maximize his quality of contact led to another demotion to Memphis. This time, Walker remained their the majority of the summer due to continued struggled.

Well, Walker began to catch fire in Memphis, and right as he began to get into a groove, the Cardinals called him back up to St. Louis as they were fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive. While there were mixed opinions about Walker being brought back to St. Louis initially, everyone seemed to agree that their decision to have him come up briefly as a platoon bat and then demote him back to Memphis was a major mistake.

A few weeks later, Walker was recalled to St. Louis, and this time, he was given an everyday role for the rest of the season. But honestly, the damage had already been done, and it was completely fair to say the Cardinals botched his situation for two straight years. That does not absolve Walker from his own struggles, but the Cardinals certainly did things that contributed to them.

Also, like Herrera, the Cardinals did not have an outfield coordinator in recent years, meaning that while the club asked Walker to change positions late in 2022 and had him starting in the outfield on Opening Day in 2023, they did not have the proper coaching in place to set him up for success with that transition. So instead of spending this past offseason building upon the success he found at the plate after being recalled to St. Louis in 2023, Walker was trying to play catch up with his defense, which seems to have contributed to his awful year offensively.

You would think the organization would do everything in its power to set up Walker for success, and yet, here we are.

Matthew Liberatore

You may have forgotten this happened with how up and down the 2024 season was for the Cardinals, but before Andre Pallante secured a rotation spot with St. Louis, the club relied on Matthew Liberatore to fill that rotation void. Well, kind of.

Some days, the Cardinals treated Liberatore like a reliever. On other days, he was in their rotation. Sometimes Liberatore was given a long leash to pitch deep into games (even without being given time to stretch out as a starter), other times, Liberatore was yanked from games and clearly not trusted. Liberatore was given random spot starts on short notice, and then thrown back into the bullpen not knowing if he'd start again or go back to his reliever role.

I understand why the Cardinals still wanted to see what Liberatore had as a starter this year. His stuff is good, and whenever he is able to be consistent with it, he has what it takes to be a very impactful starting pitcher. But the way the Cardinals handled his usage this year was just weird, and honestly, it probably would have gone on longer if Pallante had not grabbed the bull by the horns.

I am not someone who thinks the Cardinals have to abandon the potential of Liberatore starting for them, but they cannot make Liberatore go through what they did to him again in 2025. If Liberatore does not earn a rotation spot this spring, then he either needs to be sent to Memphis to keep starting games and see what happens, or they need to commit to him as a bullpen arm. If a late scratch to their starter happens and they need Liberatore as an opener in an emergency, that is fine. But no more jerking Liberatore around to cover for their own roster construction issues.

Depending on how many of their veteran starters they keep this offseason, the Cardinals should have plenty of options for their rotation, so I do not understand why they'd even need to consider messing with Liberatore as they did this year. But hey, we've seen them do it before, so not sure we should rule out that kind of odd behavior again.

Victor Scott II

Despite being one of the conductors of the Victor Scott II hype train all offseason, I had come to a place where his development would be best served by starting the 2024 season in Triple-A. His Spring Training performance was really fun, but he was showing signs of why he was not ready for big-league action yet, and the Cardinals were trending toward that decision as well.

But then it became clear that Tommy Edman would not begin the season on the Opening Day roster, and then Dylan Carlson had a freak injury after a collision with Jordan Walker during the last weekend of Spring Training. Even with Michael Siani as an option, Lars Nootbaar set to return a few weeks into the season, and the opportunity available to sign a veteran if needed, the Cardinals decided to select the contract of Scott and make him their starting center fielder to begin the year.

Saying Scott was overmatched in his first taste of big league action is an understatement. In 65 plate appearances, Scott slashed .085/.138/.136, which resulted in a -22 wRC+, something I have never seen before from a player with that many plate appearances.

Scott was demoted to Triple-A and continued to struggle with his swing for much of the summer. After making some notable changes at the plate to better utilize his lower half, Scott's numbers continued to improve, and when Michael Siani hit the injured list, Scott was able to jump in and take the center field job again.

He's where things got weird again. Scott played well as the Cardinals were quickly fading in the playoff race. By the time Siani was ready to return, the Cardinals were all but mathematically eliminated, and instead of letting Scott finish the season out for his own development, the club first sat him on the bench, and then eventually optioned him to Triple-A again.

It might seem like I am contradicting myself for saying Scott should not have been demoted again, but this is a totally different situation than the beginning of the year. Scott was clearly not ready when he made the Opening Day roster. When he got called back up in August, he had made major strides in his development, and while he could use more seasoning, the club needed him and he was ready enough. Well, things went well, and the club was not making the playoffs, so why not let him keep playing and learning at the big league level?

Scott should be the club's current long-term option in center field, not Siani. Siani is a really nice fourth outfielder to have, but his ceiling long-term is limited by his lack of offensive upside. While Scott is not expected to mash by any means, he provides a higher ceiling there, certainly on the basepaths as well, and could get to Siani's level defensively.

Yes, Siani should have been their choice in early 2024. But not at the end of the season. I don't get how the Cardinals got that backwards.

Michael McGreevy

Last but not least is a guy who I "did dirty" with my own analysis of him this past year. When Michael McGreevy got the call to make a spot start for St. Louis on July 31st, I rolled my eyes. The club was in contention at that point, and frankly, I did not think McGreevy was an MLB-caliber arm. Maybe for a bullpen one day, but certainly not as a starter.

But man, McGreevy came out and shoved for the Cardinals, against a quality team like the Rangers as well. McGreevy went seven innings while allowing just one run on five hits for St. Louis that day, turning in one of their best starts of the entire season and helping lead the Cardinals to a much-needed win.

McGreevy would not make another MLB appearance until September 18th. He did not make another start until September 24th.

I mean come on. I know the Cardinals rotation was full at that moment, but as it became clearer and clearer that their playoff chances were not real, they should have immediately thrown McGreevy back in the rotation to see what he had and to get him prepared for 2025. In McGreevy's final two starts this year for St. Louis, he went five innings while giving up three runs against the Rockies in Coors Field and they turned in an eight-inning, one-run-allowed performance against the Giants.

McGreevy was simply phenomenal for the Cardinals whenever he got a shot this year, and it is a shame that he was not given more opportunities to help the club and continue his own development. No, McGreevy won't be replicating his 1.96 ERA in 2025, but he has certainly earned a rotation spot, and that should have been given to him earlier in 2024 as well.